A federal judge has extended permission for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to force-feed a detained Cuban hunger striker at the Montgomery ICE processing center near Houston, including through surgery to insert a feeding tube without his consent. The Department of Homeland Security said Thursday that the man had resumed eating and drinking and was not being force-fed, but it did not say whether he had ended his hunger strike or how many times he had previously been force-fed.
The order is set to expire in mid-September. The man’s name has not been released because efforts to contact him were unsuccessful, and most records in the case are sealed.
What the order permits
The order allows ICE to use a nasal feeding tube and also to carry out a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, or PEG, procedure. In that surgery, medical staff make an incision in the abdomen and place a tube that remains until it is surgically removed, allowing liquid nutrition to be delivered directly to the stomach.
ICE and a doctor at the detention facility sought the authorization in August. The facility is privately operated by GEO Group, which referred questions about the case to ICE. The US attorney’s office for the southern district of Texas and an ICE official did not respond to requests for comment.
Timeline
- 22 July: The Cuban man was arrested by ICE, according to court records.
- 25 July: He was declared a hunger striker.
- 19 August: Judge Andrew Hanen authorized ICE to force-feed him.
- 1 September: ICE asked the court to extend the authorization.
- This week: Hanen extended the order, including permission for surgical feeding-tube insertion.
Why the case is drawing concern
The case is likely the 19th since January 2025 in which ICE has obtained approval for involuntary medical procedures involving a hunger striker, according to a review of court orders. Eighteen such cases had previously been identified in reporting on the agency’s practices under the second Trump administration.
Savannah Kumar, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, said the authorization showed the extreme measures available to ICE. Eunice Cho, an immigrant and civil rights attorney who has documented forced treatment of hunger strikers in ICE detention, said the number of orders raised concerns about conditions in detention and whether officials were seeking less confrontational responses.
What DHS says about the detention
DHS said the man entered the United States unlawfully in 1980, was ordered deported in 2004 and had previously been convicted of aggravated assault with a weapon, aggravated battery, drug possession and carrying a concealed firearm. The department said he had received due process and would remain in ICE custody until removal.
DHS also said detention facilities provide food, hygiene, telephone access and other basic services. During hunger strikes, it said, ICE continues to deliver three meals a day to a detained person’s room. The man currently has no legal representation in the proceedings, according to the court filings described in the records.
What happens next
The extended authorization is due to expire in mid-September.
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