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US Detention Facility Stops Force-Feeding Migrants on Hunger Strike - ICE

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed in January that it has been force-feeding several of the immigrants in detention that staged hunger strikes protesting against their treatment while waiting for their paperwork to be prepared.
Sputnik

The US government has halted the force-feeding of a group of men on a hunger strike inside an El Paso immigration detention centre, according to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"No hunger strikers housed in El Paso are currently being fed pursuant to court orders at this time. Medical staff at the facility continue to closely monitor the health and vital signs of all the hunger strikers to ensure they continue to receive proper medical care", ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa said in a statement.

According to ICE, 12 people at the detention centre, nine from India and three from Cuba, are continuing their hunger strikes.

READ MORE: ICE Admits to Force-Feeding Detainees on Hunger Strike Across US

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The force-feeding stopped after a federal court hearing on 13 February in El Paso exposed that nasogastric feeding tubes had been removed from two of the men.

Detainees at ICE processing centres have been refusing to eat or drink for weeks to protest their treatment by ICE officials, according to media reports. In January, ICE started force-feeding the migrants restraining them while a tube was shoved up their nose and down their throat, which is considered to be a dangerous procedure.

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