Homeland security officials under the Trump administration have quietly attempted to subject at least ۱۰ hunger strikers in US immigrant detention to involuntary medical procedures, including force-feeding, a Guardian investigation has found.
In ۲۰۲۵ and ۲۰۲۶, officials had definitely performed the procedures on at least three detained immigrants and likely subjected two more to the forced treatment – widely considered torture by human rights groups. The other five people gave in and broke their hunger strike at the last minute as force-feeding procedures loomed.
The government has not publicly acknowledged the practice of involuntary medical procedures on striking detainees, as the number of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) increases nationwide.
More people have gone on hunger strike in ICE detention centers to protest conditions and demand resolutions to legal cases.
The investigation, based on hundreds of pages of court records and interviews with multiple sources, reveals a clearer picture of the federal government’s response to hunger strikes within secretive ICE facilities.
In the cases reviewed by the Guardian, the involuntary procedures included force-feeding, where medical staff coercively insert a tube through a hunger striker’s nose and down their throat then pump in nutritional shakes – an agonizing and traumatizing procedure that experts say can cause significant harm to the nose, esophagus and body organs. Other procedures included intravenous forced hydration, involuntary blood draws and the collection of urine samples.
In all cases, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, requested necessary permission from courts for detention center guards to physically restrain hunger strikers.
The Guardian’s investigation found:
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One Kurdish asylum seeker and hunger striker detained at the privately-run Port Isabel service processing center in Los Fresnos, south Texas, was subjected to force-feeding for nearly eight months, according to a series of filings in the southern district of Texas federal court, beginning in May ۲۰۲۵ and ending only when he was deported.
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Another hunger striker at the same facility was subjected to involuntary medical procedures, including force-feeding, for nearly six months between September ۲۰۲۵ and March ۲۰۲۶, filings in the same court show.
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Someone detained at the Krome service processing center in Miami, a privately-run ICE jail, was subjected to forced medical procedures for nearly three months, filings in the southern district of Florida federal court show. DHS seemingly began the forced practices three days before Trump’s ۲۰۲۵ inauguration for a second term, then continued.
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Two other hunger strikers, one at the Northwest ICE processing center in Washington state and another inside the Montgomery processing center on the outskirts of Houston, Texas, were likely subjected to forced medical procedures, according to filings in the western district of Washington and in the southern district of Texas federal courts.
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In at least five cases, hunger strikers detained in Texas, Arizona and Florida, ended their hunger strike right before officials began with the forced medical procedures, filings in the southern district of Texas, district of Arizona and southern district of Florida federal courts show.
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The forced procedures were performed inside the detention centers.
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In six cases reviewed by the Guardian, detained immigrants did not have any legal representation during the court proceedings granting the involuntary medical procedures.
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DHS and ICE have conducted these procedures throughout the years, regardless of which presidential administration is in power. In ۲۰۲۴, under Joe Biden, the Guardian found that DHS attempted to subject at least ۱۰ hunger strikers in ICE detention to forced medical treatment. It definitely proceeded with at least two people, and likely subjected at least four more people to them. However, since the return of Trump to the White House and the dramatic increase in immigration arrests and detention , medical experts and advocates worry more hunger strikes will occur and strikers will be subjected to the practices.
“The Trump administration’s choice to seek court orders to force-feed people in ICE detention who have engaged in hunger strikes is another stark example of the brutality it has unleashed against immigrants,” said Eunice Cho, an immigrant rights attorney who has extensively documented cases of forced treatment on hunger strikers in ICE detention.
DHS and ICE did not provide comment or a response to questions from the Guardian.
The US attorney’s office for the western district of Washington confirmed to the Guardian that there was one ICE forced medical procedure case in its jurisdiction since ۱ January ۲۰۲۵. It was for a Canadian man whose procedures likely began on ۸ January in the closing days of the Biden administration and ended just two days after Trump’s inauguration on January ۲۰.
“The US attorney’s office represents ICE in these cases,” a western district of Washington spokesperson said in response to a request from the Guardian. “As our filings demonstrate, we work closely with the court to ensure the judge has relevant and up to date information on the health status of the detainee.
“Ultimately, it is a federal district court judge who determines what steps should be taken to protect the life and health of the detainee,” the spokesperson added.
GEO Group, the private prison company that runs guard operations in two facilities where people were likely subjected to the procedures in January and April of ۲۰۲۵, referred all questions to ICE, which did not respond.
Last week, the Guardian reported on an ICE document that confirmed one person had been subjected to an involuntary medical procedure in late ۲۰۲۵. The document also showed that the agency forecast spending $۱۶۸,۹۲۸.۰۱ in fiscal year ۲۰۲۶ to deal with hunger strikes, including for equipment and medical supplies.
The full scope of forced medical procedures on ICE detainees was unclear, due to the quick legal procedures and secretive nature of the process.
If a hunger striking detainee refuses to eat, after a certain amount of time, which can vary, DHS, ICE and federal prosecutors submit an emergency request to a federal judge. The judge will often quickly grant a court order allowing federal officials to begin the forced procedures, deciding before the detained immigrant can object in court.
Detained immigrants are not guaranteed legal representation during this process, leaving many, including those with limited English proficiency and unfamiliarity of the US legal system, to challenge DHS’s attempts by themselves. During this process, they are often locked away in solitary confinement, Cho said.
By the time DHS requests an order for the forced procedures, hunger strikers may already be weak, exhausted and facing medical problems and significant weight loss due to a lack of nutrients, court filings show. Court records are sealed in many cases.
“The hidden nature of these proceedings simply creates more opportunities for abuse and coercion,” Cho added.
Forcing medical procedures on detained hunger strikers is seen as torture by many human rights groups and medical organizations.
According to medical ethicist Dr Matthew Wynia, the director of the center for bioethics and humanities at the University of Colorado, medical staff follow a code of ethics that respects patients’ bodily autonomy. For example, if someone in a hospital is of sound mind and rejects medical treatment, healthcare staff can advise patients to accept treatment but cannot ethically force procedures without consent.
“It is unethical to force treatment on someone who is saying, ‘don’t do this to me’,” said Wynia. “People who are on hunger strike do not want to die, they are not suicidal. They are using the only tool available to them to protest the circumstances of their confinement.”
ICE deportation officers and doctors also make court declarations. ICE officers argue that the procedures are necessary to prevent the hunger striking detainees from starving to death or suffering other medical problems under their watch. Filings show officials are also concerned about the public perception of DHS and that its staff would be “adversely affected” by allowing a hunger striker to die from voluntary starvation.
In documents reviewed by the Guardian, DHS officials also justified forced medical procedures to maintain “good order” in detention centers.
One ICE officer wrote that if they did not take place it could “lead to lowered morale, resentment, acts of detainee violence and disruptions” inside, adding: “If such disruptive acts were to occur, tensions between detained aliens and staff would be heightened, making almost all aspects of the detention operation more difficult for staff to perform.”
Doctors working for ICE detailed in filings the detainees’ medical history and advocated for forcible procedures.
“The idea of health professionals serving as agents of the state, rather than protectors of our patients, has a notorious history. And for the medical profession, we really don’t want to go down that path again,” Wynia added.
