Federal judge orders force-feeding for Kurdish asylum seeker

DHS says ICE sought involuntary treatment orders for 18 hunger strikers

A federal judge ordered force-feeding for Gabar Choli after he began a hunger strike while detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Department of Homeland Security sources said ICE received “a court order for involuntary treatment for 18 hunger strikers” between January 2025 and Aug. 4, 2026.

An earlier investigation found plans involving at least 10 hunger strikers in ICE detention that included force-feeding. The Guardian also reported court orders involving other hunger strikers.

DHS said ICE respects a person’s right to refuse medical treatment “where appropriate.” The agency added: “However, when an individual’s medical condition presents a serious risk of death or permanent harm, or when other compelling legal or operational interests are implicated, ICE may seek judicial authorization for appropriate medical interventions consistent with applicable law.”

The agency said, “Any involuntary medical treatment is undertaken only pursuant to legal authority and under the direction of qualified medical professionals.”

The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Texas did not respond to a detailed request for comment. Doctors Benjamin Salinas and Shauna Kincheloe submitted declarations seeking authorization for the procedures in Choli’s case. Salinas said he was not interested in commenting, and Kincheloe did not respond.

Court proceedings proceeded without a lawyer for Choli

Choli began his hunger strike on March 24, 2025, while held at the Port Isabel service processing center in south Texas. He demanded improved conditions for detained immigrants and a decision on whether he would be released or deported, according to court records and The Guardian’s reporting.

A federal judge ordered the force-feeding without hearing from Choli, according to the report. Choli had no lawyer during his detention or during the force-feeding proceedings. When he later requested a court-appointed attorney, Judge Rolando Olvera denied the request, writing that attorneys are not guaranteed in civil proceedings and that representation would not change his decision to grant the force-feeding orders.

Rebecca Sharpless, founding director of the University of Miami’s immigration clinic, said, “In my view, those proceedings shouldn’t continue without the person having legal representation if they don’t have it already.”

ICE transferred Choli to Port Isabel for what an ICE court declaration described as a “higher level of medical care.” ICE sought its first court order nearly 10 days after the transfer. The agency placed Choli in a solitary medical cell that it described as administrative segregation.

A social worker evaluated Choli and found he was “operating under his own free will,” according to the ICE request. On May 23, ICE and the U.S. attorney’s office sought a second order for involuntary medical procedures, including force-feeding.

Choli describes restraint and alleged injuries

Choli said guards rushed him, wrestled him to a concrete floor, shackled his wrists and ankles, and took him to an infirmary. He said medical staff inserted a feeding tube through his nose and down his throat.

“Two guards would hold my feet; two hold my hands; one hold my head – and they would shove tubes in my nose,” Choli said. “It’s not easy to be wrestled to the ground twice a day by men that are stronger than you. And you just take it. You have 60cm of tube going through you and you just feel every centimeter of it.”

The force-feeding occurred intermittently from late May 2025 until Choli was deported to Canada on Jan. 6, according to the report.

Choli said the procedures caused swollen sinuses, a damaged esophagus, stomach problems and psychological distress. He said a nurse “shoved the tube so hard” that “he tore my nose from the inside,” leaving his nose bleeding for days.

He also said a tube was incorrectly inserted into his lung, causing him to choke and cough it into his mouth. ICE, DHS and Akima Global Services did not respond to questions about that allegation. Choli identified the guards as employees of Akima Global Services. Akima and its parent company did not respond to detailed requests for comment.

After his deportation to Canada, Choli ate a small salad as his first solid meal in months. He said his jaw hurt for days and that he had to learn how to eat again. He said he continues to experience physical and psychological problems, including bladder damage and pain when twisting or turning.

“The price of [the hunger strike] was my life,” Choli said. “The price of it was my kidneys, my gallbladder. My intestines. My being.”

Choli’s immigration case preceded the hunger strike

Choli crossed into the United States at Blaine, Washington, in 2022 and requested asylum. A judge denied his asylum claim in 2024 but granted him protection from deportation to Iran, according to court records.

ICE arrested Choli at a check-in on Feb. 25, 2025. Choli said ICE officials pressured him to sign a deportation order to Iran. In a declaration to a federal judge, he wrote: “I am not suicidal. I am using hunger strike as the only available option to protest the abuse and mistreatment.”

Choli initially ended the hunger strike after believing federal court involvement could help his immigration case. He resumed refusing meals after learning the case had closed and receiving no response to a letter he sent to the judge.

Doctors question the treatment and its medical effects

Doctors who reviewed limited court records for The Guardian questioned the treatment. Dr. Chanelle Diaz, an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University’s medical center, said, “This likely amounts to torture.” She said that in Choli’s case, “it’s even difficult to capture the degree of risk that he was being put at, long-term.”

Dr. Parveen Parmar, a doctor and expert with Physicians for Human Rights, said the World Health Organization and other medical organizations recognize a person’s right to decide to go on hunger strike when the person is of sound mind.

“Patient autonomy is one of the core tenets of medicine,” Parmar said. She described repeated force-feeding as “just inhumane from beginning to end.”

Diaz said ICE’s court arguments “feel like a false dichotomy,” because detained immigrants could be released and “that should be the default, not force-feeding.”

ICE and the U.S. attorney’s office sought dismissal of Choli’s force-feeding case in January after he was no longer in custody. The court sent the dismissal notice to the Port Isabel detention center, but the envelope was returned marked “Not here.”