ATLANTA — The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) against U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement on behalf of Rodney Taylor, a 47-year-old father who has lived in the U.S. since he was 2 years old and is a double-leg amputee. Federal immigration officers detained Taylor in early 2025 while his two young children watched, and he was later denied needed medical care while in ICE custody at the Stewart Detention Center. The filing is part of a coordinated nationwide effort by the ACLU and its affiliates involving 53 claims across 17 states and Washington D.C.
Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, federal law enforcement agents have terrorized communities and people in their custody with a blatant disregard for the law. The consequences have been deadly. Conditions in ICE facilities are so inhumane that the rate of deaths in ICE custody has more than doubled since Trump’s term began, reaching its highest level in over a decade. In early July, reporting revealed that, after the White House pushed to increase arrest rates, ICE officials detained more than 10,000 people in five days. Only days later, ICE agents in unmarked vehicles shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas while he was on his way to work. The following week, a federal agent shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine.
In Georgia, Taylor’s claim represents what can happen when ICE fails to meet basic standards of care for the people it detains. ICE kept Taylor detained for more than a year while denying him medical care and disability accommodations. Taylor suffered extreme pain and discomfort and has lasting health consequences because of ICE’s actions.
“This case is about ICE’s cruelty. What Mr. Taylor endured in custody is not just unlawful, it’s heartbreaking. He was in pain, he didn’t get medical care, and his needs were ignored. He struggled every day for over a year. And it affected his body, his mind, his income, his whole life. Mr. Taylor deserves justice, as does every other family and person harmed by ICE. It’s time to hold the Trump administration and ICE accountable,” said Serena Premjee, staff attorney, ACLU of Georgia.
Across the country, ACLU affiliates are fighting back against the Trump administration’s illegal conduct by filing claims under the FTCA, one of the few legal tools available to seek financial compensation for wrongdoing by federal government employees. Through this coordinated effort, ACLU affiliates are representing dozens of people and families who are seeking justice for the harm they experienced at the hands of federal immigration agents.
Each of the more than 50 claims that have been filed tells an individual story of someone who was brutalized by immigration enforcement. Together, they reveal a widespread pattern of civil rights violations and abuse carried out by officials nationwide, affecting people who are immigrants, U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, families, workers, and people exercising their constitutional rights.
Earlier this month, the ACLU released a report analyzing immigration enforcement actions in the first year of President Trump’s second term. The report, Agents of Chaos and Cruelty, examines more than 1,200 immigration enforcement incidents across eight states and found that more than 400 of those incidents involved misconduct by immigration agents, including excessive force, racial profiling, and intimidation and abuse.
The ACLU and its affiliates will continue to work to defend the rights of everyone, including people harmed by Trump’s immigration forces, and hold the administration accountable for its unlawful and inhumane actions.
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