ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — A Georgia congresswoman is raising concerns about the treatment of a detainee inside one of the state’s largest immigration detention centers as a metro Atlanta family fought to keep the husband and father in the country.

The case involves a decades-old conviction, a lapsed visa and growing questions about how detainees with serious medical needs are being treated.

For Congresswoman Lucy McBath, the case of Rodney Taylor is about more than one man. It’s about oversight of the entire immigration system.

“It is our responsibility to make sure there is a sense of dignity and respect and humanity by which they’re being detained,” McBath said.

Taylor had been held at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia — about two hours southwest of Atlanta — since January 2025. He was released on Friday, according to McBath, who has been working with Taylor’s family to find answers.

“I am very relieved to know that Rodney Taylor is currently reunited with his family,” McBath told Atlanta News First in a statement. “However, we know that the despicable and inhumane treatment of detainees in ICE facilities continues, and more families are suffering the same pain that Rodney’s family has endured. My advocacy for Rodney and my oversight of the treatment of detainees with disabilities must continue, because we know Rodney was not alone.”

Decades-old conviction at center of case

Taylor was facing possible deportation tied to a burglary conviction from when he was a teenager. He was later pardoned by the state parole board, but under federal immigration law, that pardon may not matter.

Taylor’s family says he was brought to the United States at just 2 years old for medical treatment on a legal visa that eventually lapsed over time.

McBath suspects Rodney Taylor’s story is not unique. She says Congress must be able to monitor what’s happening inside detention centers nationwide.

“We should all be concerned. Every community should be concerned if there are individuals within their community that are being detained,” McBath said. “And so I wanted to make sure that I was highlighting Rodney’s case because it might be representative of what is actually happening in detention centers all around the country.”

She says her office has pressed federal officials for answers, but so far, she says those responses have not matched what Taylor and his family described.

Family describes medical challenges

Mildred Taylor says while in custody, her husband — a double amputee — was denied full access to food and showers.

“Mentally, physically, it’s been very, very challenging,” Mildred Taylor said.

She says he struggled to get even basic accommodations, which then led to new medical issues.

“Rodney’s been diagnosed with bone spurs and neuropathy as a result of the ill-fitted prosthetics that were not provided to him while in detention, now causing more sensitive situations to his body and breaking down is deteriorating, is debilitating,” she said.

Legal case continues on multiple fronts

Taylor’s case is still tied up on multiple fronts.
His attorney, Sarah Owings, was working to get immigration officials to release him from detention. Separately, she’s working on what’s known as a habeas petition, essentially asking a federal court to review his entire case.

“At the end of this phase, there are appellate phases, so this could drag on depending on the outcome. We’ll just have to see. We’ll see what the board of immigration appeal says and go from there. And the rights of Rodney to either return to the country or remain in the country, that will be going on for a long time,” Owings said. “Immigration in general is very slow. That’s just how things are working these days.”

“It’s been a nightmare. I haven’t found a movie that’s nearly close to what we’re living,” she said.

For McBath, the case has underscored what she calls a broader concern: whether the system is meeting its own standards for care and treatment.

“I don’t get to make the decisions about his federal deportation, but it is my responsibility to make sure there is oversight,” McBath said.

An ICE spokesman told Atlanta News First that any claims Taylor or any detainees are dealing with “subprime conditions” are false.