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A Guardian investigation has found that US immigration authorities under the Trump administration subjected at least 10 hunger strikers in detention to involuntary medical procedures, including force-feeding. The procedures, which also included intravenous forced hydration, involuntary blood draws, and urine sample collection, have been widely condemned as torture by human rights organizations and medical experts.

Coverage comparison

The Guardian, which exclusively reported the findings, based its investigation on hundreds of pages of court records and interviews with multiple sources. The reporting includes an ICE Health Service Corps (IHSC) document, reviewed by the Guardian, that confirms for the first time that the administration used forced treatment on a hunger striker since President Donald Trump began his second term. The document, published online in February, discloses that an unnamed patient who began hunger strikes between October and December of last year “was subject to force feeding, hydration, or forced urinary catheterization, or involuntary blood draws.”

The Guardian’s investigation identified 10 cases in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attempted to subject detained hunger strikers to involuntary medical procedures. Of those, at least three – and likely five – detainees were subjected to the procedures. The other five gave in and broke their hunger strikes at the last minute as force-feeding procedures loomed.

Key claims

  • At least 10 hunger strikers faced involuntary procedures: The Guardian documented 10 separate cases, including an Afghan man who was force-fed for months in Texas, a Ukrainian man with mental health problems whose looming force-feeding in Florida was stopped by his attorney, and a Saudi Arabian woman who ended up in hospital while on hunger strike in Louisiana and eventually broke her strike in Texas before she was subjected to the procedure.
  • At least three, possibly five, were subjected to the procedures: The Guardian reports that ICE definitely performed the procedures on at least three detained immigrants and likely on two more.
  • Procedures included force-feeding, forced hydration, blood draws, and urine collection: Medical staff reportedly inserted a tube through the nose and down the throat to pump nutritional shakes, a procedure experts say can cause significant harm to the nose, esophagus, and body organs. Other procedures included intravenous forced hydration, involuntary blood draws, and collection of urine samples.
  • DHS and ICE sought court orders to physically restrain hunger strikers: In all cases, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, requested permission from courts for detention center guards to physically restrain hunger strikers. Medical staff then performed the procedures.
  • Many detainees lacked legal representation: In six of the cases reviewed by the Guardian, detained immigrants did not have legal representation during court proceedings, making it difficult for them to challenge the government’s attempts to force-feed them. Most records are sealed, giving the public only a glimpse at the process.
  • ICE document confirms forced treatment and tracks hunger strikes: The IHSC document notes that at least seven detained people were on hunger strike in February. It also forecasts a budget of $4,504.75 for “external medical care” of hunger strike patients and a total budget of $168,928.01 for the fiscal year 2026, based on costs from last year.
  • Force-feeding is widely considered torture: Human rights organizations and medical associations have described force-feeding and other involuntary procedures as torture. Eunice Cho, an immigrant rights attorney who co-authored a 2021 report documenting the medical complications from forced treatment for hunger strikers in ICE detention, called the revelation “shocking.”

Context

This summer, hundreds of people staged hunger strikes at detention centers across the US. Trump officials have repeatedly denied that detainees are rejecting food to protest unsanitary conditions, medical neglect, and what strikers have described as physical and psychological “torture” in detention facilities. At least 300 detainees began a hunger and labor strike at the Delaney Hall detention facility, the Guardian reported. DHS did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about what sort of forced treatment was administered to the detainee in the IHSC report.