Help Rodney Taylor, a Disabled Double Amputee Being Held by ICE

Rodney has been in the country more than 40 years. He's in solitary confinement in Georgia, being denied disability accommodations and having his medical needs ignored. He must be released.

We all know the horrors being perpetrated by ICE. We hear about them every day. They’re grabbing people off the street. They’re terrorizing entire communities. They hide their faces, refuse to identify themselves and disappear people… sometimes to maximum security prisons in foreign countries.

Over 1,000 immigrants have gone missing from Alligator Alcatraz and it’s barely a blip on the news. Why? Because this regime floods the zone. They’re committing so many atrocities that people get exhausted and can’t keep up. That’s one of the ways they keep getting away with it.

Unfortunately, when the zone is flooded important stories fall through the cracks. People who should (and need) to receive more media attention don’t get it.

One of those people is Rodney Taylor, a disabled double amputee from Georgia who’s been held in ICE custody since January.

I would never have heard of him if it weren’t for a reader who flagged his story for me. The only outlets covering his plight have been small local news stations that struggle to get views.

Without adequate media coverage and public outcry, people like Rodney don’t stand a chance. They get lost in all the noise. Quietly disappeared or left to rot in a detention facility.

I want to do my part to raise awareness because I believe the disability community needs to stick together. He’s one of us, and he’s in need of help.

I don’t have a big platform, but my hope is that folks will share this article, call and email Georgia legislators and help get Rodney released.

Image Description: A photo of Rodney Taylor sitting in his barber shop.

Who is Rodney Taylor and Why is he in ICE Custody?

Rodney is a disabled double amputee who came to America at two years of age for medical care. He didn’t make the choice, his parents did. Living in America is all he’s ever known.

He built a life for himself and runs a barber shop in Atlanta. He recently became engaged to be married. He is a job creator in his community and is well loved by friends and neighbours.

So why does ICE have him? Because when he was a teenager he was charged with burglary. The state of Georgia later gave him a full pardon for the crime, and he’s never had so much as a parking ticket in the thirty years since.

That doesn’t matter to this regime though, because it’s not about going after the worst of the worst criminals. It’s about making money. It’s about hitting a quota. They often target those who can’t fight back. The elderly, the disabled, the unhoused. People who’ve done nothing wrong and are simply trying to build a better life for themselves.

When ICE grabbed Rodney, he was in the process of receiving new prosthetic legs. The detention centre is refusing to let him have a day pass to go get them, so his health is declining.

His old legs need to be charged for long periods of time, and more often than not it isn’t being done.

He was unable to make it to the dining room for meals, so other detainees were bringing him food. The facility offered him a manual wheelchair, but he’s missing digits on one of his hands and is unable to push it.

He’s been there nearly ten months, and in that time his disabilities have not been taken into consideration.

Now they’re threatening to send him back to Liberia which his fiancé says is surely a death sentence in his current condition.

This is Cruelty for Cruelty’s Sake

There is no reason for any human being to be treated the way Rodney is being treated. It really is cruelty for cruelty’s sake. The federal government also shouldn’t be allowed to override a pardon issued by the state in which an immigrant resides.

He was working, paying taxes and building a life… and now he’s rotting in solitary confinement despite having done nothing wrong.

It’s yet another way this regime practices eugenics. By refusing disabled people the accommodations they need, they’re actively targeting them for elimination.

People die in ICE custody every year, but we often don’t hear about them. Their stories go untold, their pleas unheard and the eugenics unopposed.

In fact, according to the Physicians for Human Rights group, at least 68 people have died in ICE custody since 2017, and the vast majority of those deaths were preventable.

Perhaps that doesn’t sound like a large number, but every single one of those deaths was someone’s loved one. Someone’s boyfriend, sister, brother, husband, child. Someone who’s death could have been prevented with adequate accommodations or medical care.

We should be enraged this is happening and doing whatever we can do stop it.

So What Can We Do?

I recently wrote about Jimmy Kimmel’s reinstatement and the power of collective action. Disney bent a knee to fascism, and the people fought back. They cancelled vacations and Disney Plus in droves. They voted with their dollar, and in less than a week Disney reversed course.

Fascism is terrifying. The current regime and their ICE thugs are terrifying. Eugenics is terrifying. We have a right to be afraid. But we are not without power. We are not without hope.

Kimmel is a perfect example of what we can do when we all work together, and Rodney needs collective action now.

He had a hearing at the end of August where he fully expected to be released, but the judge said they needed time to consider options. He may be deported back to Liberia despite the US being his home for nearly fifty years.

His fiancé is pleading with people to speak out on his behalf. There was a protest outside the Atlanta immigration office to demand his release.

Our voices need to be louder. There need to be more of us. His story deserves to be told.

Let’s tell it.

You can share this article. You can call or email Georgia legislators and demand his release. You can post on social media and demand Justice for Rodney. You can refuse to let him be another nameless, faceless victim of this cruel regime.

There’s also a petition being circulated by the Indivisible Georgia Coalition. It only has 2500 signatures as of today. I would love to see it get to 10,000.

Public pressure works. There is strength in numbers. I believe we can make a difference in Rodney’s life and in doing so, perhaps we can move the needle and improve the conditions for all disabled people being held in ICE custody.

One thing I know for sure is that it’s worth trying. It’s worth fighting back. It’s worth making your noise.

Justice for Rodney. Justice for disabled people. Justice for all immigrants. Abolish ICE.

You can sign the petition here:

https://www.change.org/p/demand-the-release-of-rodney-taylor-from-ice-detention

Rodney has also filed a habeas corpus application in federal court, citing that he’s been held for over eight months without proper medical care or an opportunity to post bond. If he wins, it could be instrumental in changing the the unlawful detention of immigrants.

For more on disabled people in ICE custody and the challenges facing them, you can read my previous article where I first told Rodney’s story. It also covers Alma Bowman, an immigrant and disability advocate who needs our help.

Disabled People are Being Mistreated in ICE Detention Facilities

Will you sign the petition? Are you aware of the disabled people trapped in ICE custody?

What kinds of accommodations do you need and are you able to access them?

Do you think that community action can impact change? What else do you think we can do for one another even while we are bed bound and/or housebound? Please leave your ideas in the comments and together we can find a way to make a difference.