Updated
Updated · The Mirror US · Aug 10
ICE Admits Force-Feeding Detainees in at Least 3 Cases as DHS Claims 'Best Healthcare'
Updated
Updated · The Mirror US · Aug 10

ICE Admits Force-Feeding Detainees in at Least 3 Cases as DHS Claims 'Best Healthcare'

3 articles · Updated · The Mirror US · Aug 10

Summary

  • At least three detained immigrants were forcibly treated in 2025 and 2026, with ICE acknowledging it can impose involuntary medical procedures including force-feeding after seeking judicial authorization.
  • DHS said such interventions are used when a detainee faces serious risk of death or permanent harm, or when other legal or operational interests apply, while insisting licensed professionals direct the care.
  • The Guardian reported two more probable forced-treatment cases and said five other hunger strikers ended protests to avoid procedures such as nasal tube feeding, forced hydration, blood draws and urine collection.
  • The disclosure comes after a second death in ICE custody at Delaney Hall and drew renewed criticism from immigrant-rights advocates, who say force-feeding hunger strikers amounts to brutality or torture.

Insights

If preventing starvation is the goal, why do detainees report severe long-term physical and psychological damage?
How do secretive court orders allow medical staff to perform procedures that ethicists classify as torture?