By Emily Wu Pearson

(WABE)

Photo: Mildred Taylor, whose husband has been in detained at Stewart Detention Center for over a year, stands in line in front of the ICE field office in Atlanta, Ga to deliver over 7,600 petitions demanding her spouses release. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

The family of a Loganville man and Georgia state lawmakers hand-delivered a letter to immigration officials in Atlanta on Thursday, asking for the man’s release.

It’s part of an ongoing campaign of Georgia’s local and federal elected officials to get Rodney Taylor, 47, out of Stewart Detention Center in Southwest Georgia, where he has been detained for more than a year. 

“I have seen the conditions that him and others have had to deal with and the heartbreaking stories directly from people in the facility, including Rodney,” said state Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, who visited Taylor in detention and authored the letter. “It is unimaginable the pain they have to go through, and no human being should be ever treated like that.”

Taylor came to the U.S. on a medical visa when he was two years old from Liberia through the Shriners organization to receive treatment for deformities in his limbs. Today, he uses two prosthetic legs and is missing three fingers on his right hand. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him at his home based on a burglary conviction from when he was a teen that the state of Georgia pardoned Taylor for in 2010, according to his attorney Sarah Owings.

His story rose to national prominence in early March after Congresswoman Lucy McBath questioned then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem about the conditions Taylor faced in detention.

“He went six days without a shower because the facility lacked the appropriate medical equipment,” McBath told Noem at a congressional hearing. “When he finally got a shower stool, he found moldy showers covered in feces and bodily fluids. He was threatened with disciplinary action if he tries to use that shower stool. Rodney must crawl through that muck and squalor of feces and bodily fluids to enter and exit the showers.”

Noem promised McBath she would look into Taylor’s case, but she was removed from the role the day after the hearing. Taylor’s wife, Mildred, said no one from DHS has followed up with her on Noem’s promise.

In the meantime, Mildred and the lawmakers are moving forward, calling attention to Rodney’s story and medical needs. In addition to the letter, Mildred delivered a petition with more than 7,600 signatures asking for her husband’s release. 

“Rodney’s not just the (Alien)-number. He’s a husband, he’s a father, he’s a loved one. He’s a human being with constitutional rights whose life matters,” she said. “Right now, Rodney is suffering in detention.”

DHS wrote in a statement to WABE, “Any claims that detainees in ICE custody are dealing with subprime conditions at Stewart Detention Center are false…All detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, and toiletries, and have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers.”

Taylor’s state representative, Segun Adeyina, said federal officials should consider alternatives to detention while Taylor’s immigration case moves through the system so he can receive adequate medical care.

“We recognize the importance of enforcing our laws,” Adeyina said, “but we must also recognize the discretion that exists within the DHS to act compassionately, especially when someone’s health and well-being is at risk.”