Between late May 2025 and January 2026, 40-year-old Kurdish asylum seeker Gabar Choli was intermittently force-fed while held in a solitary confinement medical cell inside the Port Isabel service processing center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in south Texas, according to court records and reporting. Choli, who had been on a hunger strike for over two months demanding improved conditions and his release or deportation, described the nearly eight-month ordeal as an experience that “mentally broke me.”
The Ordeal of Force-Feeding at Port Isabel
According to court documents and Choli’s firsthand account, detention center guards would regularly rush into his concrete cell, wrestle him to the floor, shackle his wrists and ankles, and drag him to the facility infirmary. There, guards pinned him down while medical staff forcibly inserted a nasogastric tube through his nose and down his throat to pump nutritional liquids into his stomach. Choli stated that the procedures occurred up to twice a day, resulting in severe physical injuries including a torn nose lining, a damaged esophagus, swollen sinuses, broken ribs, and psychological torment. Dr Chanelle Diaz, an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University’s medical center, reviewed limited court records at the request of investigators and stated that the practice “likely amounts to torture” and placed Choli at severe long-term risk.
Legal Proceedings and Government Justifications
Federal court records show that ICE and the U.S. attorney’s office for the southern district of Texas obtained court orders to conduct involuntary medical procedures, including force-feeding. U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera approved the initial force-feeding order in May 2025 without a hearing from Choli, and later denied Choli’s request for a court-appointed attorney, writing that legal representation is not guaranteed in civil proceedings. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources stated that between January 2025 and August 4, 2026, ICE received court orders for involuntary medical treatment for 18 hunger strikers. A DHS spokesperson defended the actions in a statement, noting that ICE seeks judicial authorization for medical interventions when a detainee’s condition presents a serious risk of death or permanent harm, or when compelling legal or operational interests are implicated.
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Deportation and Subsequent Recovery
ICE finally deported Choli to Canada on January 6, where he reunited with his siblings living in Canada. Medical experts, including Dr Parveen Parmar of Physicians for Human Rights, have criticized the practice, emphasizing that patient autonomy is a core tenet of medicine and that individuals of sound mind retain the right to refuse food. Choli continues to deal with lingering physical and psychological damage from the detention period.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Gabar Choli detained in the United States?
Choli crossed the border into Blaine, Washington, in 2022 to request asylum after facing death threats for his activism supporting an independent Kurdistan. Although an immigration judge denied his asylum claim in 2024, the judge granted him protection from deportation to Iran. He was subsequently arrested by ICE during a check-in on February 25, 2025.
How many hunger strikers were subjected to court-ordered involuntary treatment?
According to Department of Homeland Security sources, ICE received court orders for involuntary medical treatment for 18 hunger strikers between January 2025 and August 4, 2026.
What were the legal grounds used by the court to authorize the procedures?
Federal judge Rolando Olvera approved court orders allowing ICE to conduct involuntary medical procedures, including force-feeding.