Justin Bieber is in Tokyo, Japan, and has been blitzing his social media accounts over the last few days with a mix of reflective and fun posts.
The 20 year-old arrived in the capital with his crew and mother Pattie Mallette Sunday, April 20, after flying from Los Angeles into Narita International airport and almost losing his low-slung camouflage pants during a security check at LAX .
Bieber was met by a group of fans at the airport in Tokyo and appeared in great spirits as he stopped to pose for photos.
(Photo: Bieber posing with fans at airport in Toky0.)
As yet there’re no word on what Justin is doing in Tokyo, but he did tweet about kids in need on Monday which may mean the singer may be about to launch a new #giveback initiative.
Seeing some incredible things. So many kids in need around the world. Make sure to #giveback
— Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) April 21, 2014
The day before the singer left the US the White House finally responded to a We the People petition uploaded at whitehouse.gov following Bieber’s January 23 arrest on suspicion of DUI and two other charges.
It demanded the government deport the superstar and revoke his [non-existent] green card on the grounds that Bieber’s “dangerous, reckless, destructive” behavior was a threat to “the safety of our people” and “our nation’s youth.”
After it was uploaded, the petition exceeded the 100,000 signature threshold that compelled a White House response with six days and eventually gathered nearly 274.000 signatures.
On Friday, as part of a White House statement titled “Believing in Immigration,” President Barack Obama’s administration declined to offer a comment and cited terms of participation rules that allow it to side-step making a statement on petitions if it conflicts with legal cases better addressed in the federal, state or local system ” to avoid the appearance of improper influence.”
The White House wrote: “Thanks for your petition and your participation in We the People . Sorry to disappoint, but we won’t be commenting on this one.”
The statement went on to state the president’s case for immigration law reform, which some may find ironic given that the Immigration Policy Center estimates 10% 0f people deported between 1997 and 2007 were legally living in the US, CNN reports.
Bieber is currently accused of DUI, an alleged house-egging/vandalism, an assault charge arising in Toronto, and two ongoing civil cases filed by paparazzo who allege the singer was responsible for assaults on their person.
However, even if convicted of DUI and vandalism, these are not deportable offenses although a conviction for the alleged assault over in Canada may be say experts.
Justin resides in America on an O-1 visa, allocated to: “individuals with…extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television industry,” and he can only be forced to leave for a violent crime, a crime that involves “moral turpitude” — and any crime with a sentences longer than one year.
Currently, debate is raging online and elsewhere with some taking the position that Bieber is some kind of enemy of the state but getting “special treatment” by the White House. Others take the view — which we agree with — that the petition is unworthy of serious attention.
Meanwhile, Bieber himself took to Twitter over the weekend and offered some reflection on his turbulent transit through 2013 and 2014 to date.
“This is my time off but my mind is alway[s[ running. Learned a lot this past year thru trial & error but that is life. Excited for what’s next,” he tweeted early Monday.
That message was followed by, “Always push yourself to be better than the day before,” with Justin later uploading an Instagram photo of a bible verse from Romans 5: 8, which read:
“I loved you at your darkest.” Bieber also added a caption of “Thankful for God’s everlasting love.”
( Photo: Instagram Bieber, Pattie Mallette and Maejor Ali In Tokyo, Japan .)
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— MIINa (@0208Miina) April 22, 2014
Hours later the Canadian posted four Instagram photos which suggest he is not letting his legal troubles overwhelm him.
( Photo: Instagram: captioned “West side.” )
( Photo: Instagram, captioned “ Universal [ Music Group ] Japan thank you. “)
( Photo: Instagram, captioned, “All around the world.” )