Exclusive: court orders seen by Guardian show agency given approval to fit Texas detainee with tube without his consent
ICE given permission to force-feed Cuban hunger striker with gastric tube Exclusive: court orders seen by Guardian show agency given approval to fit Texas detainee with tube without his consent José Olivares in New York Sat 5 Sep 2026 06.00 EDT Prefer the Guardian on Google Federal immigration officials quietly received permission from a judge in recent weeks to force-feed a detained Cuban hunger striker inside a Texas detention center, including with the use of a rare, nonconsensual surgical procedure, court records reveal.
The man is likely the 19th hunger striker in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention where the agency has had an application approved to conduct “involuntary medical procedures” since January 2025. The rising number of cases under the second Trump administration has alarmed advocates amid wide-ranging accusations of mistreatment inside facilities nationwide.
Court orders from the southern district of Texas federal court seen by the Guardian suggest ICE followed through with force-feeding via a nasal tube on the Cuban man in August, since agency officials successfully requested this week that the court order be extended. He is currently detained at the Montgomery ICE processing center, a privately-run detention facility near Houston.
That’s torture.
Disgusting. What possible justification is there for this barbarism?
While in custody, it is the responsibility of the state to keep you alive and well.
I don’t agree with that, because this is a violation of their bodily autonomy, and as we all know, inmate healthcare is atrocious. But that’s the justification.
While in custody, it is the responsibility of the state to keep you alive and well.
Then they should stop withholding medical treatment and basic hygeine supplies.
There’s no need for surgery to keep a healthy adult alive. The article does not mention any medical condition that would require a surgical g-tube placement. This requires justification or it’s just straight up torture, even within the twisted logic of prisons.
For that part, I know of no justification.
Would you rather have them let him die?
Edit: With that said,
But in this latest case in Texas, ICE also received permission to force-feed the Cuban hunger striker through a “percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy” tube insertion. This is a surgery in which medical staff make an incision in a person’s abdomen, insert a tube that remains in place indefinitely until it is surgically removed again and pump liquid directly into the stomach.
Are they keeping this prisoner constantly restrained?
I’d prefer they release him or otherwise address whatever’s causing him so much distress he’s choosing not to eat. But barring that it’s his decision whether to eat or not and they shouldn’t be force-feeding anyone.
But we don’t even need to get into that because my comment was really asking why a surgical g-tube would be even considered over the far less invasive ng-tube which is typically used for force-feeding. Without any justification given it has the appearance of an unnecessary surgery being used as torture with a thin veneer of legal and medical justification.
If ng tube is nasal gastric, thats also torture, but has to be done twice daily and takes hours each time. I definitely wouldn’t consider that less invasive.
This is a video of the standard procedure, its incredibly difficult to watch, even though he volunteered and was free to stop at any time. You’ve been warned.
It could also be considered torture I suppose but I think there are a few details to note here. First, it’s mainly unpleasant during the insertion. Once it’s in there the discomfort is much less. Second, I don’t think the discomfort is going to compare to actual pain from surgery.
I don’t have experience with these in the prison situation but in a normal medical use, the tube would be left in so only a single insertion is necessary until the tube needs to be replaced some time later, usually around a month. However, I suppose if the prisoner is committed to the hunger strike, they could pull it out to force a re-insertion each time. I’m not sure how common that is.
The g-tube isn’t any faster and can still be pulled out (albeit it’s more difficult and painful to do so) so I really don’t see any advantages to using that. In a normal medical situation, the g-tube is typically recommended when a long-term feeding tube is needed, like months to years. This doesn’t seem likely in a hunger strike situation.
Would you rather have them let him die?
Their body, their choice.
Is that really so hard to understand?That’s a rather radical departure from society’s general attitude towards suicide.
Oh look, more CIDT from the land that invented waterboarding
