By Irene Wright

(USA Today) Kristi Noem is out as Secretary of Homeland Security after congressional hearings ranged from confrontational to heated as funding for the department remains in gridlock.

Noem was questioned about Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations and the death of U.S. citizens, Stephen Miller's influence on the department and more as tempers flared in the congressional chambers.

The former secretary was fired on March 5, and quickly replaced by Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin.

But during Noem's last days in power, she was questioned by Georgia representative Lucy McBath about 47-year-old Rodney Taylor, a man McBath said is disabled and being neglected in an ICE detention center in the state.

"Secretary Noem, you claim you are going after the worst of the worst. If you're doing that, I would really be cheering you on, but this simply isn't the case. That's false," McBath said in the hearing.

Who is Rodney Taylor?

"Rodney Taylor, who is incarcerated at Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, is a prime example," McBath said. "He's 47 years old and works as a barber. When he was 2, he was brought to this country legally on a medical visa to address his extensive disability."

McBath explains Taylor was born in Liberia with a "deformed left foot, a missing right foot, and three fingers missing on his right hand." Taylor later became a double amputee at the age of 10 and has had more than a dozen surgeries to address his limb deformities.

Taylor was convicted of a crime at the age of 17, though McBath does not disclose his record. He was later pardoned by former Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue and has not had any further run-ins with law enforcement. Taylor has applied for a green card, and the process is pending, McBath said.

Taylor was taken into ICE custody in January 2025, McBath said, and his health has deteriorated in the year since.

The representative said he had bone spurs in his back, and when he sought medical care, he was rejected by ICE officials. Taylor has lost enough weight that he is unable to use his prosthetic legs due to an ill fit, and he cannot use a wheelchair with only one hand with all five fingers.

"He is at the mercy of the other detainees just to get food since he can't get himself to and from the cafeteria. Rodney's disabilities make it nearly impossible for him to shower. He went six days without showering because the detention center lacked the appropriate medical equipment. When he finally got a shower stool, he found moldy showers covered in feces and bodily fluids. Just yesterday, he was threatened with disciplinary action if he tried to use that shower stool. Rodney must crawl through that muck and squalor of feces and bodily fluids to enter and exit the shower," McBath said.

Taylor is from Loganville, according to reporting by news agency Capitol Beat, and the detention center is in Lumpkin, Georgia, south of Columbus.

"This is despicable. It's inhumane torture that no person should have to endure," McBath said, before introducing Taylor's wife, who was present at the hearing, and is a U.S. citizen.

How did then Secretary Noem respond?

Noem began her response by saying she was "unfamiliar" with the case and would look into it further, before saying she would ensure the Stewart Detention Center was held to the same standard as other facilities.

She called the standards the "highest in the nation," and said all detainees have access to medical care.

McBath asked Noem if she had read a letter about the case sent by McBath and her colleagues more than two weeks ago, and Noem answered "no," but that she would get lawmakers a response in the next couple of weeks.

Noem was fired from her position the next day.

Speaking to Capitol Beat, Taylor's wife, Mildred Pierre, said the couple has two young children, and she feared ICE would "send him home in a box."

Pierre said Taylor's conviction was for burglary, but that part of his life was long behind him, and he was now the primary breadwinner for their family. She said he was taken into custody when ICE agents surrounded their car, boxing them in near their home, and pulling their guns out, all while their then 4- and 6-year-old children were in the vehicle.

More ICE facilities on the horizon in Georgia

Two new ICE facilities are slated for construction in Georgia, including a smaller processing facility in Oakwood and a longer-term detention facility in Social Circle.

Officials in both cities have had little to no communication from the Department of Homeland Security, and believe they do not have the infrastructure to support holding facilities in converted warehouses.

"We don't know (who will pay for utilities)," Oakwood city planner B.R. White told USA Today in an interview. "We don't have a sewage treatment facility in Oakwood. We pre-purchase capacity from three other jurisdictions, and through our agreements, we have maximum capacities from each jurisdiction."

The additional cost of increasing the sewage capacity for the detention center would top $2 million, White says. That's money that the city just doesn't have to spend.

The high price tag raises concerns about whether the water and sewage capabilities of the warehouses will meet a standard of care for the detainees, as they are expected to start arriving later in the spring.