The case of Rodney Taylor, an immigrant with a double amputation who has spent almost his entire life in the United States, has generated concern among his friends, family, and the immigrant community in Georgia, after he was detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service in previous months. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is now close to deportation.

Currently, Taylor faces the conclusion of his immigration process after appearing at his final hearing on August 12, according to Newsweek.

After this, a judge must decide if the Liberian native remains in the country amid pressure from ICE to deport the barber, who suffers from a serious health condition after losing both legs, making him highly dependent on specialized medical care.

Rodney Taylor life in the United States

Rodney arrived in the country as a child from Liberia under a medical visa after losing both doors. After his arrival, he grew up in Georgia, where he became a barber and built his life. For more than four decades, he has resided in the United States, establishing family and community ties.

His partner, Mildred Pierre, maintains that the country is his only home and that sending him back to Liberia would condemn him to certain death, since he would not have access to the electronic prosthetics and medical treatment he needs.

The past that condemns Taylor

Throughout his life in the United States, Rodney Taylor sought on several occasions a way to remain legally in the country. According to reports from 11Alive, he submitted up to three applications to obtain permanent residency, but all were rejected due to a juvenile record that has haunted him for decades.

Although much of his family is already US citizens, the federal immigration system never granted him the relief he so desperately sought.

That obstacle dates back to when he was just 16 years old and was arrested for robbery. Years later, in 2010,The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles granted him a pardon that was supposed to close that chapter of his life. However, as local media explains, that state pardon carried no weight under federal immigration laws.

From the Stewart Detention Center, Taylor expressed his surprise at the reopening of that episode: "I thought everything was in the past with the pardon; it was shocking that they used it against me."

Health Problems in Detention

Since his arrest earlier this year, Taylor has remained in the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia. Newsweek reports indicate that he has not received adequate medical care: his prosthetics cause constant injuries, and he has had to face risky situations, such as being isolated for refusing to enter a flooded area that would have damaged his devices.

His health, coupled with the poor conditions of his detention, have raised alarm bells among family members and activists.

A Case That Is Generating Outrage

The community in Hamilton and Cincinnati has come out to protest on several occasions, demanding justice and denouncing the inhumane treatment of Taylor. "My fiance is not a criminal, he's a hard-working, good man," Mildred Pierre told local media, visibly distressed after the hearing.

Now the decision is in the hands of the immigration judge, who must decide whether Taylor will be deported or allowed to remain in the country that has been his home for more than four decades.