Gwinnett Barber in ICE Custody Awaits Judge’s Decision on Deportation

(LUMPKIN, GEORGIA) Rodney Taylor, a 46-year-old Gwinnett County barber and double amputee, remains in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, after an immigration judge heard his case on August 12, 2025. The judge is expected to issue a ruling within 30 days, placing a decision deadline around September 11, 2025. Taylor’s case has drawn sharp attention from local advocates and national disability rights groups, who argue that his health needs and long residence in the United States should weigh in favor of release.

Taylor has lived in the U.S. since age 2, when his mother brought him from Liberia for medical care. He built a life in Georgia, running a barbershop and supporting a blended family of seven children. Supporters say his arrest outside his Loganville home on January 15, 2025 and his extended detention reflect a wider enforcement shift that has frightened many mixed-status and immigrant families in Gwinnett County.

According to Taylor’s attorney, Sarah Owings, ICE has the authority to release him on humanitarian grounds but has denied three separate requests. His legal team points to a Georgia pardon he received in 2010 for a burglary committed at age 16. Despite the pardon, federal officials initiated removal based on that conviction, a move that legal observers say raises questions about the weight of state pardons in federal immigration decisions. Advocacy groups argue this case reflects a gap between criminal justice reforms and immigration enforcement practice.

Case status and timeline

• Detention: Taylor has been held at Stewart Detention Center since January 15, 2025. Supporters report he spent weeks in isolation, which they say was punishment for not responding quickly to guards—behavior they connect to his disability.
• Recent hearing: An immigration judge heard his case on August 12, 2025, in Lumpkin, Georgia.
• Decision window: A ruling is expected within 30 days of the hearing, roughly by September 11, 2025.
• Possible outcomes: The judge’s order could lead to:
  • Release in the United States, or
  • Deportation to Liberia, a country Taylor has not lived in since early childhood.

Key timeline (concise)

1. January 15, 2025 — Arrested and detained at Stewart Detention Center.
2. June–August 2025 — Protests and advocacy actions intensify.
3. June 25, 2025 — Family and supporters stage focused rally on medical needs and pardon.
4. August 12, 2025 — Immigration judge hearing.
5. By September 11, 2025 — Expected date for a judge’s decision (30 days from hearing).

Policy context and community response

Georgia’s HB 1105 (2024) mandates closer cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, requiring detention of people who cannot prove lawful status. The law followed the high-profile death of nursing student Laken Riley and has increased ICE cooperation across the state.

• Although Gwinnett County ended its 287(g) agreement in 2021, HB 1105 mandates similar coordination.
• Community organizations—including Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, GALEO Impact Fund, and Common Cause Georgia—have urged officials to hold public town halls and release clear enforcement guidance.
• State Rep. Marvin Lim has raised concerns that the law creates a climate of fear and confusion for both documented and undocumented residents in diverse counties like Gwinnett.

For families like Taylor’s, those policy changes feel immediate. His fiancée, Mildred Pierre, has led public advocacy since his arrest, describing the emotional toll on their children and the struggle to manage his business and medical equipment at home while he remains detained. Supporters say Stewart’s location and scale exacerbate the situation: it is one of the country’s largest immigration detention centers, far from metro Atlanta, which makes visits and legal meetings more difficult and costly.

Health concerns and detention conditions

Taylor is a double amputee who uses prosthetic legs that require regular charging and maintenance. Supporters report:

• ICE has not met his medical needs, causing ongoing pain and reduced mobility.
• Prolonged isolation allegedly overwhelmed him physically and mentally.
• Failing batteries in his prosthetics and limited access to specialists make continued detention dangerous, advocates say.

These claims have prompted protests and letters from disability rights organizations urging humanitarian release, a discretionary tool that removes people from detention while their cases continue.

Legal perspective and advocacy arguments

• Attorney Sarah Owings argues the 2010 state pardon should reduce federal reliance on a decades-old offense.
• Supporters emphasize Taylor’s long U.S. residence, disability, and family ties as factors weighing in favor of release.
• Legal experts note that state pardons raise complex federal-law questions; outcomes vary and depend on specific case records and discretion exercised by ICE and immigration judges.
• VisaVerge.com and other sources note ICE has broad discretion to release medically vulnerable people on humanitarian grounds, particularly when essential care is hard to provide in detention.

Practical impacts and logistics

• If deported, Taylor would be sent to Liberia, which he left as a toddler and where he reportedly has no support network.
• His children and fiancée say the prospect of separation is devastating and would upend their lives in Gwinnett County.
• Families must travel several hours from metro Atlanta to visit detainees at Stewart, creating financial and logistical burdens for attorney meetings and family visits.

For official information, ICE posts detainee and visitation details for Stewart on its website. The facility page, including rules and contact information, is available at the official ICE site: https://www.ice.gov/detention-facility/stewart-detention-center.

What happens next

• If the immigration judge denies relief and issues a removal order:
  • Taylor’s legal team can pursue appeals or request humanitarian intervention from ICE.
• If the judge grants relief or the government agrees to release him:
  • Taylor could return home to Loganville and continue his case outside detention.

Taylor’s case sits at the intersection of three forces: state-level cooperation mandates (HB 1105), disability rights and medical care standards in detention, and debates over how pardoned offenses should affect federal immigration outcomes. The ruling will signal whether people with old convictions and serious medical needs can expect a lighter touch — or more of the same.

For Taylor and his family, the next few weeks could decide whether he reunites with his loved ones in Georgia or is sent to a country he barely knows.