They're playing with people's lives': the double amputee detained by ICE speaking out at public events

Rodney Taylor, a Liberia-born barber and green-card applicant, was released from Georgia’s Stewart Detention Center on 1 May after being detained since 15 February of the previous year. ICE agents detained him after a burglary conviction from his teens, which Georgia pardoned in 2010. During detention, his health worsened, including painful bone spurs, and his family lost stability, including his wife’s job and one of their two cars. After habeas corpus efforts, protests, and letters from state officials, a letter presented by US representative Lucy McBath and signed by multiple lawmakers cited dangerous conditions and referenced reporting. He returned home to Loganville, Georgia, greeted by family and supporters.

"Released on 1 May from Georgia's Stewart Detention Center, the Liberia-born barber had been detained since 15 February of last year, after ICE agents with guns drawn dragged him from his car in front of his house, while his two youngest children, now eight and six, looked on from the back seat. Now he was all smiles, surrounded by family and supporters. He had just spoken at his second public event in two weeks, a fundraiser for his family."

"Rodney, 47, is a green-card applicant and double amputee with prosthetic legs. He was brought by his mother to the US from Liberia on a medical visa as a young child. ICE detained him due to a burglary conviction from when he was a teenager that Georgia pardoned him for in 2010, according to his attorney, Sarah Owings, who shared paperwork from his case. He lacks three fingers on his right hand and has high blood pressure."

"During his detention, his wife, Mildred Danis-Taylor, lost her job, and the family lost one of their two cars. With Mildred nearby, the two spoke exclusively to the Guardian about his first few weeks of freedom and their future. His health deteriorated significantly in ICE detention, including the development of painful bone spurs in his back."

"Still, despite a habeas corpus petition, multiple protests, letters from state elected officials and, on 4 March, Georgia US representative Lucy McBath holding up a letter in a Capitol Hill hearing room detailing Stewart's dangerous conditions signed by McBath and 20 fellow lawmakers and citing the Guardian's reporting ICE kept Rodney locked up. That ended this month, when there was unexpected laughter on his arrival home in Loganville, Georgia, where he was greeted by a Christmas tree."

Read at www.theguardian.com