The Trump administration has subjected at least one individual on hunger strike in immigrant detention to forcible medical treatment. This practice has been described as torture by healthcare associations and international human rights groups.
A document from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) health service agency, reviewed by the Guardian, confirms this for the first time since Donald Trump began his second term. The document, published online in February by the ICE Health Service Corps (IHSC), reveals an unnamed patient who began hunger strikes between October and December last year “was subject to force feeding, hydration, or forced urinary catheterization, or involuntary blood draws”.
The IHSC document also notes that at least seven detained individuals were on hunger strike in February. The agency has forecasted a total budget of $4,504.75 for “external medical care” of hunger strike patients and $168,928.01 for the fiscal year 2026, based on costs from last year.
Eunice Cho, an immigrant rights attorney, described this revelation as “shocking”. She co-authored a 2021 report detailing medical complications from forced treatment for hunger strikers in ICE detention. Forced treatment can involve inserting a nasogastric tube, a procedure that can cause gagging or, rarely, perforation of vital organs, according to the 2021 report.
ICE must obtain an order from a federal judge to forcibly treat a detained person on hunger strike. Ms Cho stated that these orders often amount to a “rubber stamp” due to many detained immigrants lacking legal representation.