And another hunger striker was almost force-fed, but gave in and broke her hunger strike as coercive procedures loomed. As part of the Guardian’s reporting, we tracked specific cases in ICE detention centers nationwide. Blankenship said officials refused to give Shepitsen his bipolar medication, citing his hunger strike, while Shepitsen refused to end his hunger strike until he received medical care – leading to an impasse. In April, 44 days after he began his hunger strike, ICE requested a court order to restrain and force-feed him. The decision to force-feed someone “feels like such a false binary to me”, Sugarman added, pointing to ICE detention as a civil matter, rather than criminal.