Homeland security officials under the Trump administration reportedly attempted to subject at least 10 hunger strikers in US immigrant detention to involuntary medical procedures, including force-feeding, a Guardian investigation has found.
In 2025 and 2026, officials had reportedly performed these procedures on at least three detained immigrants and likely subjected two more to forced treatment. Human rights groups widely consider such forced treatment to be torture. The remaining five individuals reportedly ended their hunger strikes at the last minute as force-feeding procedures were imminent.
The involuntary procedures reviewed by the Guardian included force-feeding, where medical staff insert a tube through a hunger striker’s nose and down their throat to pump in nutritional shakes. Other procedures included intravenous forced hydration, involuntary blood draws, and the collection of urine samples.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), reportedly requested court permission for detention centre guards to physically restrain hunger strikers in all cases. The government has not publicly acknowledged the practice of involuntary medical procedures on striking detainees.
One Kurdish asylum seeker at the Port Isabel service processing centre in south Texas was reportedly subjected to force-feeding for nearly eight months, from May 2025 until his deportation. Another hunger striker at the same facility reportedly underwent involuntary medical procedures for nearly six months between September 2025 and March 2026.
Eunice Cho, an immigrant rights attorney, stated that the Trump administration's choice to seek court orders for force-feeding in ICE detention is "another stark example of the brutality it has unleashed against immigrants."