ICE Plans to Buy Electric-Shock Gloves for Immigration Officers Under $20 Million Contract
The Facts
- ICE plans to spend $10 million to $20 million on gloves that deliver electric shocks, according to a DHS notice published Monday.
- The devices are called the G.L.O.V.E., for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, and are made by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky.
- The gloves work as ordinary patrol gloves until an officer presses a button to activate an electrical mode.
- The gloves must be applied directly to a person's skin to deliver a shock.
- The device can deliver up to 380 volts, roughly three times the charge of a standard US power outlet.
- DHS's notice describes the equipment as "conductive distraction and de-escalation devices."
- The devices are to be issued to Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations personnel by March 2027.
- Some US prisons and police departments have already used the gloves in recent years.
- Democratic elected officials and civil rights advocates criticized the plan, calling it unnecessary and cruel.
- It is not publicly clear how many gloves ICE will buy or what each costs, as the manufacturer does not disclose prices.
Context
How does the device differ from a Taser?
Unlike a Taser, which fires probes from a distance, the glove must be pressed against a person's skin to deliver a shock NDTV,ITV Hub. The manufacturer markets it as a close-range compliance tool and says the localized stimulus produces compliance in under three seconds without leaving burns, marks or scars La Nacion,News.com.au. The device also contains a microprocessor that records when the shock function is activated News18.
What are critics objecting to?
Some former ICE officials questioned using the devices against people accused of violating immigration law, a civil offense, and critics said the tool could escalate rather than reduce officers' use of force NYT. Rep. Pramila Jayapal wrote on X that the purchase "won't make anyone safer and in fact just gives ICE another dangerous tool to target citizens and immigrants alike" mint. Reporting has also cited lawsuits alleging injuries and a death linked to the device's use NDTV.
How has DHS responded?
DHS said in a statement that "ICE is constantly assessing the needs of our officers in the field to ensure they have the tools and equipment necessary to safely arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our country," adding that every decision is carefully considered and reviewed BBC,News.com.au,DIE WELT.
Are there legal limits on where the gloves could be used?
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James said Wednesday that recently enacted state protections could expose ICE officers to legal consequences if the devices are used in New York Fox News.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Both reads accept the same mechanics: a glove that looks ordinary until a button is pressed, delivering up to 380 volts only on direct skin contact, at an officer's discretion.
- Where Left and Right split
- Whether the story is about public money buying a device that inflicts pain on contact, or about officers absorbing assaults being owed a tool short of worse force.
How left and right read it
Whether power is restrained matters most at the moment it touches a body. So spending $10 million to $20 million on gloves that pass up to 380 volts into a person's skin, then calling them "de-escalation devices," drains the phrase of meaning — especially since the manufacturer itself warns against use on elderly people, pregnant women, children, and the severely handicapped. Public money should not equip an agency to deliver pain on contact.
“The manufacturer warns against using their device on elderly people, pregnant women, children, and the severely handicapped -- individuals who have not been spared from the Trump administration's sweeping crackdown on immigrants.” — The New Republic
Asking officers to carry out enforcement in the field means owing them equipment matched to the risk they absorb — The Daily Wire notes DHS reporting a 1,300% surge in assaults on ICE agents since the deportation campaign began. A tool that stays an ordinary patrol glove until a button is deliberately pressed, and that works only on direct contact, is a restrained answer to that risk; so the $10 million to $20 million should be spent without apology.
“Since the Trump administration commenced its mass deportation campaign, ICE agents have faced a 1,300% surge in assaults and a 3,300% increase in vehicular attacks, according to DHS.” — The Daily Wire
The receipts — all 100 sources
Wire services (1)
Independent coverage (50)
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