ICE Paperwork Confirms It Force-Fed a Hunger-Striking Detainee — A First for This Administration

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 7: Protestors hold signs outside Delaney Hall Immigration Detention Center, where ICE is housing detained immigrants on June 7, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. Mayor of Newark Ras J. Baraka has pulled Newark Police away from the detention center, where protesters continue to gather in support of detainees who are on a hunger and labor strike, and GEO Group will be responsible for protecting the immigration detention facility. (Credit: Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

A little-noticed internal filing from ICE's Health Service Corps has done something no press release ever has: it puts in writing that a detainee who stopped eating was subjected to involuntary medical treatment under the current administration. Covering the opening quarter of fiscal year 2026 and first surfaced by the Guardian, the document describes one unnamed patient — who began refusing meals sometime between October and December — as having been "subject to force feeding, hydration, or forced urinary catheterization, or involuntary blood draws."

Elsewhere in the paperwork, ICE reports seven people were still on hunger strike as of mid-February, and the agency earmarks close to $169,000 in outside medical costs tied to strikers for the full fiscal year.