ICE Is Force-Feeding Hunger Strikers, in Violation of Medical Ethics

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8 hours ago
ICE Is Force-Feeding Hunger Strikers, in Violation of Medical Ethics
Two Indian men in Louisiana have been refusing food and water for more than two months.
Noah Lanard


Immigration and Customs Enforcement is subjecting asylum seekers to forced feeding and hydration, despite widespread agreement among medical professionals that the practice is unethical and never justified.

Three men at ICE’s LaSalle detention center, a facility in Louisiana run by the for-profit prison company GEO Group, have been on a hunger strike since November 1, according to Freedom for Immigrants, an advocacy group that seeks to end immigration detention. The men are protesting to pressure ICE to release them so that they can fight their asylum cases from outside of detention. Bryan Cox, an ICE spokesman, says that as of Tuesday, 10 people in Louisiana were on hunger strikes, defined by the agency as missing at least nine consecutive meals.

Under the Trump administration, ICE has moved toward a policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers as part of its effort to deter people from seeking protection at the southern border. ICE’s New Orleans field office, which covers Louisiana and four other Southern states, went from releasing 75 percent of eligible asylum seekers on parole in 2016 to 1.5 percent in 2018. In September, a federal judge ordered the agency to give asylum seekers detained in the Deep South a fair chance of release, but lawyers in the state have told me they’ve seen no evidence that ICE is complying. Asylum seekers detained in Louisiana say they’ve been pepper-sprayed and beaten for protesting their indefinite detention.

The World Medical Association, the international authority on medical ethics, has repeatedly stated that force-feeding mentally competent hunger strikers is never ethically acceptable. The American Medical Association and the International Committee of the Red Cross also oppose the practice. Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in February that force-feeding may violate the UN Convention against Torture.

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https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/01/ice-is-force-feeding-hunger-strikers-in-violation-of-medical-ethics/