Slick Rick, the eye-patched British-born, Bronx-bred rapper, is facing deportation yet again. According to Rick's supporters, the Department of Homeland Security has picked up where the INS left off and is pushing ahead with deportation. The INS tried twice, and failed, to have the rapper deported back to England.

In September, the Appeals Court of the 2nd Circuit in New York overturned the decision that freed Rick, born Richard Walters, from jail in 2003. Rick was arrested in 2002 in Florida on deportation charges and held without bail for 17 months.

Now, Russell Simmons has joined the fight to keep the 31-year-old in the U.S., where has lived since 1975. Simmon's Hip-Hop Summit Action Network is sponsoring a downtown press conference on October 24 at 11:00AM.