‘Shoved the tube so hard it tore my nose’: Kurdish film-maker recounts ‘inhumane’ ICE force-feeding

Key Points:

• In June 2025, Kurdish asylum seeker Gabar Choli was held in solitary confinement at the Port Isabel ICE detention center in Texas and force-fed via nasogastric tube after a hunger strike protesting harsh conditions and seeking release or deportation.
• Choli endured nearly eight months of intermittent force-feeding, a practice condemned by human rights groups as torture, which caused him severe physical injuries including swollen sinuses, damaged esophagus, stomach problems, and psychological trauma.
• ICE obtained court orders to forcibly feed Choli and at least 18 other hunger strikers between January 2025 and August 2026, often without the detainees having legal representation or being heard in court.
• Despite Choli’s protests and requests for legal aid, a federal judge repeatedly approved force-feeding orders, framing the hunger strikes as threats to facility security and public interest, while ICE maintained the practice was legally authorized and medically supervised.
• After his deportation to Canada in January 2026, Choli described ongoing physical and mental struggles but hopes his testimony will raise awareness about the treatment of immigrants in US detention centers under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.