Homeland Security officials under the Trump administration sought court permission to impose involuntary medical procedures on at least 10 hunger strikers held in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention during 2025 and 2026, according to a Guardian investigation based on court records and interviews.
Officials definitely carried out the procedures on at least three detained immigrants and probably did so in two other cases, while five more people ended their hunger strikes as forced treatment approached. The practices included force-feeding, intravenous hydration, blood draws and urine collection, but the government has not publicly acknowledged their use.
What the court records show
The most extensive case involved a Kurdish asylum seeker held at the privately operated Port Isabel Service Processing Center in Los Fresnos, Texas. Federal court filings indicate that he was force-fed for almost eight months, beginning in May 2025 and continuing until his deportation.
A second detainee at Port Isabel underwent involuntary procedures, including force-feeding, for nearly six months from September 2025 to March 2026. Records from the Southern District of Florida show that a person held at the Krome Service Processing Center in Miami experienced forced medical treatment for almost three months.
Two additional detainees, at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Washington state and the Montgomery Processing Center near Houston, were probably subjected to similar procedures, according to filings. In at least five other cases in Texas, Arizona and Florida, detainees stopped their hunger strikes immediately before officials acted.
How the process works
When a detained person refuses food for a period determined by officials, the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and federal prosecutors can ask a federal judge for an emergency order. Judges often rule quickly, sometimes before the detainee has an opportunity to challenge the request.
Once permission is granted, guards may physically restrain the hunger striker while medical staff insert a tube through the nose and throat and deliver nutritional liquid. The records also describe forced intravenous hydration, involuntary blood tests and urine sampling. Medical experts say force-feeding can injure the nose, esophagus and internal organs.
Legal safeguards vary in practice. In six cases examined by the Guardian, the detainees had no lawyer during the proceedings that authorized involuntary treatment. Many were held in isolation, and sealed records, limited English proficiency and unfamiliarity with the US legal system made the process difficult to contest.
Medical ethics and government justification
ICE officers and doctors told courts that intervention was needed to prevent detainees from dying of starvation or suffering serious medical harm. Filings also cited the need to preserve order and staff morale, warning that a death could produce resentment, violence or disruption inside detention facilities.
Medical ethicist Matthew Wynia, director of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado, said forcing treatment on a competent person who rejects it violates medical ethics. He said hunger strikers generally use refusal of food as a protest against confinement rather than as an attempt to die.
Immigrant rights attorney Eunice Cho, who has documented forced treatment in ICE detention, called the Trump administration’s use of court orders “another stark example of the brutality it has unleashed against immigrants.” Human rights groups and medical organizations widely regard forced treatment of hunger strikers as torture. DHS and ICE did not respond to the Guardian’s questions.
A practice spanning administrations
The investigation found that DHS and ICE have pursued such procedures under both Democratic and Republican administrations. In 2024, during Joe Biden’s presidency, officials attempted to impose forced medical treatment on at least 10 ICE detainees, definitely carried it out on at least two and probably did so in at least four additional cases.
The transition between administrations complicates the timeline in one Washington case. The US attorney’s office for the Western District of Washington said procedures for a Canadian man probably began on January 8, 2025, near the end of Biden’s term, and ended two days after Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
The full number of cases remains unknown because proceedings can be rapid and court records are frequently sealed. An ICE document reported by the Guardian projected $168,928.01 in fiscal 2026 spending on hunger-strike response equipment and medical supplies, while the agency’s expanding detention system may bring more such cases before federal judges.
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More context: Federal Judge Blocks Trump Policy to Revoke Work Permits from Asylum Seekers and TPS Holders.
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