The United States Justice Department authorized 19 cases of forced feeding of detained immigrants who began hunger strikes in protest against detention.
The immigrants are in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency responsible for immigration enforcement and deportation in the United States.
The detainees began the strike as a way to express their dissatisfaction with detention conditions and the time they spend imprisoned awaiting decisions on their immigration cases.
With the court authorization, immigration authorities may proceed with forced feeding in the 19 authorized cases, measures that generally involve the insertion of nasal tubes for nutrition when detainees refuse to eat.
