In 1996, shortly after Republicans took control of Congress, new draconian immigration laws were enforced that encourage authorities to deport convicted criminals to their native country, even if the individual is a legal resident. The law is xenophobic at its core. In fact, US-born citizens are five times as likely to go to prison than those born elsewhere. But after 9/11, the deportation frenzy intensified. In total, over 700,000 immigrants have been removed from the States since 1997, even for misdemeanor offenses or basic civil immigration violations.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) runs their own detainment facilities, which are often outsourced to private companies who have a financial incentive to keep the beds filled. And while inhumane conditions are rampant, coverage is rarely given due to its low-profile residents. But the recent case of celebrity rapper, Shyne—born in Belize but raised in Brooklyn—has pushed the immigration dilemma to the fore-front of pop-culture dialogue. Shyne isn’t the first celebrity to face threats of deportation. Here’s a brief look back…

Marcus Garvey, 1927
The Feds always had their eye on Garvey, looking for a loophole to deport him from the States. After he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and made headlines by speaking to 25,000 people at Madison Square Garden, his critics intensified their plot. In November 1919, authorities charged Garvey with mail fraud surrounding his Black Star Line shipping corporation. While there were some accounting irregularities within the company, it was clearly a politically-motivated case. He was convicted and spent two years of a five-year sentence before being deported to Jamaica where he continued his international movement. 

Paul McCartney, 1980
Sir Paul McCartney has been a stoner for quite some time. While passing through customs in Tokyo, officials found over seven ounces of weed in his luggage. Damn, homie. His celebrity status spared him from a potential seven-year bid, but he spent 10 days in the Tokyo bing before deportation back to England. He was again arrested for weed possession in 1984.

Charlize Theron, 1994
The South African actress had a hectic upbringing. A year after witnessing her mother shoot her abusive father to death, Theron won a local modeling competition and got to travel abroad. While in the US, she produced a documentary called East Of Havana, which criticized America’s relations with Cuba. She later claimed that her involvement with the piece landed her on the government’s enemies-list and she was subsequently deported back home at age 19. Theron eventually become a US citizen in 2007.

Slick Rick, 2002
After serving over five years in prison for attempted murder, The Ruler faced another 11-year battle against threats of deportation to his native England. The US authorities had been obsessively on his trail and eventually nabbed him in 2002 when he boarded a docked Caribbean cruise ship. Despite spending a year in a Florida INS facility, deportation lingered over his head until NY Gov. Paterson issued a rare unconditional pardon. “We don’t cause trouble, we don’t bother nobody.”

Yusuf Islam, 2004
The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens was on a plane from his hometown, London, to Washington, where he planned to meet Dolly Parton. While in flight, custom agents alerted authorities that his name popped up on the murky no-fly list. Fearing that the creator of “Peace Train” was in fact a violent terrorist, the plane was diverted to Maine and he was immediately deported back to the UK. After diplomatic protests, and even a successful libel case against British tabloids, the British singer was eventually allowed back into the US.

Shyne, 2009
This is foul. Just when the former-Bad Bay artist thought he was returning home after serving nine years, the ICE moved in to prolong his ordeal. Similar to the Slick Rick case, officials are thirsty to make an example of the Brooklyn-raised rapper and send him back to his birth nation. Despite pleas from Belize’s Prime Minister, who also happens to be his dad, it looks like Shyne may have more hurdles to jump before he re-enters the land of the “free”. 

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Of course, that probably means nothing to the rapper once heralded as the second coming of Biggie; technology has exploded in the time since his cell door clanged shut, so we imagine he might have a bit of a tough time getting adjusted to the way things are now. In fact, we peeped our special limited-edition crystal ball to see how it might go…

ShynePo FREE AT LAST PEOPLE FREE AT LAST MOSES MICHAEL LEVIY IS HOME!!! HAPPY SUKKOT!!! I DONT QUITE GET THIS TWOOTER THING BUT IM ABOUT TO CHECK MY EMAILS

ShynePo @aol I’VE GOT MAIL! GIMME MY EMAIL MY USER NAME IS BADBOY1 AND MY PASSWORD IS PASSWORD

ShynePo @AOL HELLO? CLICKETY CLACK BADBOY1 PASSWORD

@ShynePo *picks phone up off modem, peers into it*

ShynePo FUCK MAN THEY TOLD ME UPSTATE THINGS DONE CHANGED BUT I DO NOT GET THIS AT ALL

iamdiddy @ShynePo Shyne baby! You’re back! Sorry I couldn’t be there to pick you up this morning, but I was too busy uStreaming myself trying to close my mouth all the way! Let’s go!

ShynePo @iamdiddy USTREAMING YEAH YEAH WE HAD TO DO THAT EVERY COUPLE OF MONTHS IN THE BING, CONTRABAND AND ALL THAT. LET’S GO WHERE, THOUGH? I HOPE IT’S THE STUDIO, BECAUSE I GOTTA LACE ALL THOSE TRACKS FOR THE BAD BOY SUPERGROUP ALBUM I’M DOING WITH CAIN AND MARK CURRY!

iamdiddy @ShynePo …ah, man, we gotta talk. Don’t worry, I put together a new video explaining everything! Peep it on YouTube!

iamdiddy *Sets up tripod, consults Stephon Marbury’s Guide to Overexposing Your Crazy*

ShynePo @iamdiddy YOUTUBE IS THAT LIKE HOTBOT PUFF?

iamdiddy @ShynePo Hotbot? Puff? Hahahaha who is you ni**a, Rip Van Wrinkled? Thanks for shootin’ up that chick’s nose and all, but I’m DIDDY! I ran a marathon! I replaced all my regular teeth with baby shark teeth! I wear a tuxedo to bed! I’M CIROC OBAMA!

ShynePo WTF IS A CROCKOBAMA THAT SHIT SOUND LIKE A SOUTHERN-ASS ALLIGATOR MAN THIS IS TERRIBLE I’M GONNA ASK JEEVES WHAT TO DO

ShynePo @AskJeeves HEY JEEVES I CAN’T FIGURE ANY OF THIS SHIT OUT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO GET IN TOUCH WITH PEOPLE I EVEN BOUGHT BLACKBERRIES AT C-TOWN BUT ALL THEY DID WAS MAKE MY THUMBS PURPLE

BarringtonLevy @ShynePo U biddlywiddlywhoa? Let’s get this waddlyziddly doooooough!

ShynePo @BarringtonLevy SORRY FAM TIMES CHANGE I HEARD THEM LITTLE NI**AS B2K ARE THE ONES TO ROLL WITH SO I 2-WAYED CHRIS STOKES. WE’RE MEETING AT THE TELLY LATER! HE SAID HE HAD A GREAT DEAL FOR ME!

BarringtonLevy @ShynePo But he’s a kiddly diddly noooooo!

ShynePo @BarringtonLevy WHAT, SHOULD I NOT TAKE A LOOK AT THE PACKAGE HE’S OFFERING?

PausePolice @ShynePo Ayo, son, pause!

ShynePo @PausePolice FAST FORWARD! NO, REWIND! FUCK, I DUNNO, HOW DO YOU PLAY THIS GAME?

Tami760 @ShynePo whoa.. found a date @http://bit.ly/hBy70 (:

ShynePo @Tami760 BIT WHAT NOW? YA PARENTHESIS POINTING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION SON!

@iamdiddy Nah, man, that’s spam, you gotta ignore that. Twitter’s not for listening, it’s for talking! To people you don’t know! It’s about sanctimonious platitudes and juice fasts and self promotion! Save all that other shit for Tumblr and Facebook!

ShynePo FOR WHO AND WHAT?! GODDAMN I’M ABOUT TO START CRYING OVER HERE FUCK ALL THIS INTERNET SHIT LEMME JUST TURN ON THE RADIO

ShynePo HMMMMM

ShynePo WHAT IS A DRAKE?

ShynePo WHAT IS A KID CUDI??

ShynePo WHAT IS A JERKIN’???!?!?!?!

ShynePo *gives up, becomes a rabbi*

**Yes, this is a parody. We made it up, people!

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Yesterday, we learned via Middle Eastern news channel Al Jazeera (where else?) that former Bad Boy artist, Loon, has given up his secular ways and converted to Islam. Forgive us for the yawn that followed our initial WTF, it’s just that we’ve seen this before. Loon is only the latest rapper to find religion, check out some more…

Rapper:Ma$e
Real Name: Mason Betha
Converted To: Christianity
Year: 1999
Reason: Cam’ron and Jim Jones say Betha “ran to Atlanta” ’cause some dudes in NYC wanted to extort money from him. But Ma$e claims to have heard the Lord’s calling (while high on weed), and that’s what lead him to leave behind his multi-platinum rap career to start Mason Betha Ministries with his wife.

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Rapper: MCA
Real Name: Adam Yauch
Converted To: Buddhism
Year: 1993
Reason: After a snowboarding trip in the Himalayas in 1993, MCA returned with a newfound outlook on the world and an all-together matured personality. Known as one of the most tongue-in-cheek rappers in the game, MCA came back dropping nuggets like this: “We have a lot of machines and we think of ourselves as really advanced. But in fact we’re not very modern compared to the Tibetans, who have a more inwardly evolved society in terms of their psychology and philosophy. And without adopting some of that understanding and learning from the Tibetans and from Buddhism, we’re basically going to destroy the planet for everyone.” Zing!

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Rapper: Kurtis Blow
Real Name: Curtis Walker
Converted To: Christianity
Year: ’90s
Reason: Tired of the increasingly negative images the music he helped usher into the mainstream was putting out for kids to digest, the first rapper to sign a major deal partnered up with Holy Hip Hop Music and EMI Gospel to release the Christian rap album “Kurtis Blow Presents: Hip Hop Ministry.” We’re still waiting for him to change his name to something that’s not a cocaine reference.

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Rapper: Shyne
Real Name: Moses Michael Leviy (Previously Jamal Barrow)
Converted To: Judaism
Year: 2006
Reason: While locked up for the infamous club shooting involving Diddy and his flavor of the month J. Lo, Shyne discovered his bloodline descended from the original 12 tribes of Judah and immediately changed his name to Moses Michael Leviy. Mazel tov!

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Rapper: Ice Cube
Real Name: O’Shea Jackson
Converted To: Islam
Year: 1992
Reason: Back in the early ’90s, Cube declared the Nation of Islam, “the best place for any young black male”. Already militant, he promptly shaved the jheri curl and recruited Khallid Abdul Muhammad for his album “Death Certificate”. Although he’s still Muslim, later in his life Cube has shied away from his affiliation with the nation, calling himself a “natural Muslim”.

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Rapper:Doug E. Fresh
Real Name: Douglas E. Davis
Converted To: Scientology
Year: 2000’s
Reason: The worlds greatest entertainer said that after looking at a number of different religions, he choose to study Scientology, stating that it’s a “useful tool for out here in the world, it gives you clarity on a lot of different things.” That and he got to chill with Tom Cruise.

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Rapper: Everlast
Real Name: Erik Schrody
Converted To: Islam
Year: 2004
Reason: According to Whitey Ford, a friend introduced him to Islam and explained to him how the religion is “all-encompassing, uniting all religions and Prophets in itself.” All we wanna know is: do he and Michael Muhammad Knight sit together at mosque?

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Rapper: Rev Run
Real Name: Joseph Simmons
Converted To: Pentecostalism
Year: ’90s
Reason: “A religious awakening” is what pushed Run to become an ordained minister with Bishop E. Bernard Jordan’s Zoe Ministries, add the word “Rev” in front of his name, and start wearing those ugly-ass capes.

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Rapper: BG Knocc Out
Real Name: Al Hasan Naqiyy
Converted To: Islam
Year: 1999
Reason: Before he was sentenced to 10 years for attempted murder, this former Eazy-E associate researched the Nation of Islam, but was turned off by some of their beliefs. Once in prison, BG met some Orthodox Muslims who won him over (pause) and convinced him to convert.We’re assuming he spells “kufi” with a “c” too.

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Rapper: Loon
Real Name: Amir Junaid Muhadith (Previously Chauncey Lamont Hawkins)
Converted To: Islam
Year: 2009
Reason: After tiring of playing Mase-lite, this former Harlem World star left Bad Boy in ‘04 to start his own Boss Up Entertainment imprint, which turned out to be a complete failure. Not to mention he started beefing with his old uptown buddies, Ma$e and Jim Jones (who claimed that he saw Loon in the South selling pre-paid cell phones). But that’s in the past now, and Loon claims that he’s “happy to be accepting Islam and finding the piece of mind that I was always searching for in the music business.”

Recording artists are constantly being judged for their fashion choices, but at no point is an outfit more important than when they’re going before a judge in court to face the music. For instance, the same baggy thug apparel that gives a rapper street cred makes them look like a disrespectful miscreant to a gavel banger.

Yesterday, when R&B singer Chris Brown appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court to be arraigned for the alleged assault of his pop star girlfriend Rihanna, he made a smart selection: tight fitting dress clothes topped off with a sweater. Note the black—it’s slimming, which makes him look too skinny and frail to whup on a woman. Well done, Chris. Of course, not everyone is so wise. Check out five artists whose court look was just plain criminal…

Moses Michael Leviy, a.k.a. Jamal “Shyne” Barrow
• Charged with: First-degree assault and reckless endangerment, a.k.a shooting the club up
• What he wore: Dapper suits with fitted baseball caps
• What it said: “I’m ready to start a New Era—in prison.”
• Verdict: Guilty. Sentenced to 10 years.

Michael Jackson
• Accused of: Child molestation
• What he wore: A suit with pajama pants.
• What it said: “Let’s get this over with. I have a slumber party to get to, and you know how kids hate it when you’re late.”
• Verdict: Not guilty. Extremely suspect, but not guilty.

Phil Spector
• Charged with: Murdering nightclub hostess and actress Lana Clarkson in his mansion
• What he wore: A series of crazy hairstyles and ill-advised suits
• What it said: “OK, even if I did it, just look at me—I’m clearly insane.”
• Verdict: Guilty of fashion crimes. All else is TBD.

Radric “Gucci Mane” Davis
• Charged with: Violating terms of his probation (failing to do 600 hours of community service and using alcohol and drugs) after an assault conviction
• What he wore: A “Gucci Mane” T-shirt
• What it said: “My ‘Gucci Mane’ suit is still at the tailors.”
• Verdict: Guilty. One year in jail, continued probation.

Dwight “Beanie Sigel” Grant
• Charged with: Attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses
• What he wore: A sharp suit and hat combo straight out of Goodfellas
• What it said: “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”
• Verdict: Hung jury. Pause.

Needless to say, we’re making sad-face emoticons over here at Complex; not only is the civilian population losing one of the South’s finest lyricists and a genuinely smart and likable dude, but it’s just one more objectively great emcee who gets chalked into the “Incarcerated” category. There’s more than 20 rappers locked up right now, but since we don’t really fux with shermhead cannibals, we had to narrow it down to our 10 favorite (including Tip). For a look at the other nine, read on…

CHI ALI
• Crime: Murder
• Incarceration Location: Elmira Correctional Facility
• Why We Miss Him: Who else got to be down with Native Tongues when they were 16? That shit was like Harry Potter levels of crazy for adolescent rap heads in the ’90s.

TRAGEDY
• Crime: Criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fourth degree
• Incarceration Location:Riker’s Island, NYC
• Why We Miss Him: He pioneered naming yourself after an international despot. If the Intelligent Hoodlum hadn’t become Tragedy Khadafi, we wouldn’t have legends like Noreaga, let alone MC Slobodan Milosevic (he’s serbin’ fools!).

PRODIGY
• Crime: Gun possession
• Incarceration Location: Gouverneur Correctional Facility, New York
• Why We Miss Him: Thankfully, we have his third eye shining on us through the internetz, so it’s almost like he’s still here–but we still miss that gruff-ass voice. He and Alc are like the Julius and Vincent of this rap game.

TURK
• Crime: Second-degree attempted murder, firearm possession
• Incarceration Location: Shelby County Jail, Memphis
• Why We Miss Him: Because without Turk, we’re denied our Hot Boy fix. Uh, pause.

NUMSKULL
• Crime: 15 felony charges, including rape, sodomy, and “forced oral copulation”
• Incarceration Location: Santa Rita Jail, Dublin CA (last confirmed location)
• Why We Miss Him: He still owes us 5 bucks!

SHYNE
• Crime: First-degree assault and wreckless endangerment. Or, in common parlance, “taking the fall for Puff.”
• Incarceration Location: Woodbourne Correctional Facility, NY
• Why We Miss Him: Moses Michael Leviy might be the hardest Jewish cat in the bing behind Bernie Madoff, but Hanukkah’s just not the same without him.

DMX
• Crime: Aggravated assault while serving a 90-day sentence for drug possession, theft and animal cruelty. No comment.
• Incarceration Location: Tent City Jail, Arizona
• Why We Miss Him: Who else are we supposed to get our political commentary from?

BLACK ROB
• Crime: Grand Larceny
• Incarceration Location: Riker’s? Elmira? Woodburne? He’s been everywhere by now, so your guess is as good as ours.
• Why We Miss Him: It’s more that we’re just worried we’ll never see him again. After all, this is the guy who said “if I go to jail again I’m going under the bing”…

MYSTIKAL
• Crime: Extortion, sexual battery
• Incarceration Location: Elayne Hunt Correctional Facility, Louisiana
• Why We Miss Him: Listening to Mystikal was like hanging out with Saafir the Saucee Nomad after he drank a case of Red Bull. This dude raps so damn enthusiastically it sounds like he might fuck around and mow your lawn at any second. With his teeth.

The Rawkus A&R/Talib Kweli NYU roommate/Wyclef protege/Carly Simon crusade/convicted cocaine trafficker apparently made it onto the presidential radar enough that Dubya saw fit to give him that golden get out of jail free card. But as long as you’re springing MCs, Mr. President, maybe you could polish that turd of a legacy by extending clemency to the following seven political prisoners….

SHYNE

• Sentence: Ten years
• Crime: First-degree assault and reckless endangerment for popping off in the club and grazing some chick’s nose.
• Reason For Release: His father’s the prime minster of Belize'how about a little political favoritism, Dubya? Besides, Jamal’s Jewish now, you heard? Pardon him now and he’s out in time for Hanukkah, word to the hot fire in your menorah.
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TURK

• Sentence: 10 years (reduced from 12)
• Crime: Attempted second-degree murder after allegedly shooting a SWAT member during a drug raid in Memphis Ten-a-key.
• Reason For Release: Don’t front, you want a Hot Boys reunion more than anyone. That’s the kind of music you can clear brush on your ranch to!
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GUCCI MANE

• Sentence: One year
• Crime: Violating the conditions of his parole (after catching an assault charge by hitting a promoter in the head with a pool cue).
• Reason For Release: Completing 25 of 600 community service hours? Using weed and ecstasy? That’s not parole violation, that’s a proper trap-a-thon!
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BLACK ROB

• Sentence: Seven years (originally convicted for a 2-6, but then never reported for sentencing. Whoa!)
• Crime: Grand larceny for robbing a woman’s hotel room in NYC in 2004.
• Reason For Release: G-Dep’s starting to feel a lot more dysfunctional without Rob being there to balance out the Bad Boy fuckery.
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DA BRAT

• Sentence: Three years
• Crime: Hitting a waitress in the face with a bokkle of rum at JD’s Atlanta nightclub last Halloween. Me-ow!
• Reason For Release: With the constant complaints of sexual harrassment coming from her fellow prisoners, she might be better punished just being released back into label purgatory.
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TWISTED BLACK

• Sentence: Life. Daaaaaaaaamn!
• Crime: Conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine'after accepting money from a dope for a quarter-key of powder (though a witness claimed Black had been moving a key every three weeks back in 2005).
• Reason For Release: Doggie, you commuted Forte’s sentence after he got popped with 31 pounds of liquid cocaine valued at $1.4 million. LIQUID COCAINE! How you gonna give a man life for selling a fiend $3,000 worth? That’s weed carrier money right thurr.
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PRODIGY

• Sentence: 3 1/2 years
• Crime: Possession of a loaded gun after getting pinched for an illegal u-turn. Officerofficerofficaoverseer!
• Reason For Release: Have you checked the blog knowledge he’s dropping from the bing, George? Call us crazy, but you’re gonna need a ghostwriter, and he’s gonna need to let you know that THE ELITE GROUP OF FAMILIES WHO CONTROL THE WORLD AND ARE MANIFESTING THIS PLAN OF “ONE WORLD ORDER” ARE THE ROYAL FAMILY, THE BILDERBURG GROUP, THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE WORLD BANK, THE VATICAN, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IN D.C., THE FEDERAL RESERVE AND MANY MORE.