A disabled double amputee named Rodney Taylor has been held in ICE custody since January.
He’s been denied his new prosthetic legs and is now in solitary confinement.
His “crime”? A burglary when he was a teen for which he received a full pardon.
His parents brought him to the US when he was only two years old.
He needed better medical care than what he could receive in Liberia.
He’s been in the country almost 50 years and had permanent residency.
He’s got a family, a fiancé and owned a thriving barber shop where he was considered a staple within his community.
When ICE grabbed him he was only a day away from receiving new prosthetic legs, but they’ve not been willing to let him go and get them.
As a result his health has declined.
He was unable to make it to meals and had other detainees bringing him food.
Now he’s in solitary confinement waiting to hear if a judge will grant his request to remain in the US or send him back to Liberia.
This is cruel and unusual.
He did nothing wrong. He went through the proper channels. The “crime” he committed was over thirty years ago and the state of Georgia granted him a pardon
This is not someone who’s a danger. He paid taxes, employed others & gave back to his community
His story is getting dreadfully little media attention, though a local Atlanta public station has been trying to raise awareness.
There was a protest outside the Atlanta immigration office yesterday to demand his release.
Disabled lives are not valued.
We all know this.
It’s one of the reasons we must stand together and fight for one another.
The judge will rule by the end of the month in Rodney’s case, and in the meantime he needs all the public support we can give him.
He should also have access to proper disability accommodations while he’s being detained.
There’s no reason to destroy what’s left of his health, especially if he might be deported back to a country where his fiancé says he won’t survive.
Justice for Rodney and abolish ICE
#uspol #disability #ableism #abolishice #immigration #rodneytaylor
