Since Donald Trump resumed office in January 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has attempted to subject detained hunger strikers to involuntary medical procedures, including force-feeding, in at least 10 documented cases across the United States.

Among these cases, an Afghan man began a hunger strike on 11 September 2025 at the El Valle detention facility, a privately-run ICE center in south Texas. Eight days later, on 19 September, federal judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr ordered ICE to force-feed him without a hearing or input from the hunger striker. The man was force-fed for nearly six months. After almost three months, Dr. Shauna Kincheloe at the Port Isabel facility submitted a court declaration stating that continuing force-feeding was medically necessary.

Other cases include a Ukrainian man with severe bipolar disorder whose impending force-feeding in Florida was halted by his attorney, and a Saudi Arabian woman who went on hunger strike in Louisiana, was hospitalized, and eventually ended her strike in Texas before force-feeding could be administered.

Katie Blankenship, an immigration attorney involved in the Ukrainian man's case, noted his mental health condition contributed to crises and arrests. Additionally, Sugarman, a physician active in Doctors for Camp Closure—an organization opposing the detention of migrants and refugees in the U.S.—has highlighted concerns about the inhumane treatment of detainees.

These revelations come amid ongoing debates about the ethics and legality of force-feeding hunger strikers in immigration detention centers.

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