LUMPKIN COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia man has been released from immigration detention after a yearlong campaign by advocates, family members and federal lawmakers who raised concerns about medical neglect.Rodney Taylor, a double amputee who came to the U.S. on a medical visa at 2 years old, was released Saturday from Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin County, where his family says he suffered serious health deterioration while facing possible deportation.“I am proof that when people organize and refuse to look away, we can win. I am home. I am free,” Taylor said.Decades-old conviction at center of caseTaylor’s detention was tied to a burglary conviction from when he was a teenager. He was later pardoned by the state, 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.His wife, Mildred Taylor, says while in custody, her husband 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.Coalition campaign leads to releaseTaylor’s release follows a high-profile pressure campaign led by a broad coalition of community organizers, legal experts and federal lawmakers who warned that the Trump administration’s continued detention of Taylor was a “death sentence” given his severe medical vulnerabilities.Coalition partners supporting the effort include El Refugio, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Columbus GA Indivisible, We Are CASA, Black Diaspora Liberty Initiative, Progress Georgia, AAAJ-Atlanta and community advocates across Georgia and beyond.The campaign reached a turning point through congressional intervention. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock; U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath and Pramila Jayapal; state Reps. Gabriel Sanchez, Segun Adeyina, Jasmine Clark, Josh McLaurin and others joined by a coalition of 21 members of Congress and half a dozen members of the Georgia Legislature publicly pressed ICE to address systemic medical neglect and act on the urgent humanitarian need for Taylor’s release.Congresswoman raises oversight concernsFor McBath, Rodney Taylor’s case 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.McBath suspected Taylor’s story is not unique. She said 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. Legal case continuesTaylor’s case is still tied up on multiple fronts.said Sarah Owings, Taylor’s attorney, 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. Immigration in general is very slow. That’s just how things are working these days,” Owings said.An ICE spokesman sai any claims Taylor or any detainees are dealing with “subprime conditions” are false.Copyright 2026 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.