The decorated producer of both The Pharcyde and The Wascals is likely to be sent back to his birth country, Spain, despite having grown up in Los Angeles, CA almost his entire life.

Juan Manuel Martinez, more popularly known as producer J-Swift, is about to be denied citizenship in the United States. He was detained in Canada on January 15 while returning home after performing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Although he was born in Madrid, Spain, Swift was raised in Inglewood, CA since the age of 2.

Threats of deportation date back to 2007 after Swift was pinned for drug possession. He had been struggling with substance abuse and homelessness after leaving Pharcyde in the 90’s. He managed to retain his citizenship after his children fought for him to remain in America, but he soon fell back into drug problems. In 2012, he was arrested again for cocaine possession. He’s been clean form 3 years since however, and he’s made efforts to care for his children. All this has not stopped immigration judge Anna Ho from calling for his deportation once again in August of 2014.

Swift quickly filed an appeal to combat the charge, but his citizenship status was still flagged as he attempted to re-enter the US in January. Following the initial arrest in Vancouver, he was allowed to remain outside of prison with friends, but after arriving late to his court date, he was forced to return to jail. Despite efforts by his attorneys, it is unlikely that he will be able to return. He is instead most likely to be sent back to Madrid. It is there that he hopes to raise funds and wait on his appeal.

The Department of Homeland Security has not provided any response to the issue.

LA Weekly has the full story.