The immigration agency plans to spend up to $20 million on what the DHS calls “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices”
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to equip its officers with special gloves capable of delivering painful electric shocks to people resisting arrest, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notice.
Known as G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), the devices are made by Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies and have already been used by some US prisons and police departments.
ICE plans to spend between $10 million and $20 million on what the DHS calls “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices,” under a contract running through March 2027.
The manufacturer does not publicly disclose the price of the gloves, but AP reported that ICE plans to purchase thousands of the devices.
The DHS plans to award the contract to Compliant Technologies without competitive bidding, with the solicitation expected as early as Friday.
A DHS spokesman told Time magazine on Wednesday 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.”
When approached by AP, Compliant Technologies founder and CEO Jeff Niklaus said that “unfortunately, we are unable to speak on this subject.”
The glove looks and functions like regular police gear until its electric mode is activated at the press of a button, according to the manufacturer. Direct contact with exposed skin delivers a painful shock designed to force a resisting person into compliance within seconds.
John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, likened the shock to a bee sting, describing it as “immediate and sharp.”
Peters told AP the gloves could be used to force uncooperative suspects out of vehicles or homes, as well as to maintain order in ICE detention facilities.
The planned purchase has drawn criticism from civil liberties advocates amid mounting scrutiny of ICE’s use of force.
Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said ICE has spent the past year demonstrating that its officers are “too quick to use force.”
“Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public,” she said.
The planned acquisition comes after nationwide protests over the fatal shootings of two US citizens by federal immigration agents in Minnesota in January.
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ICE has also faced scrutiny over conditions in its detention centers. At least 52 people died in the agency’s custody during the first 500 days of US President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a June report by Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights.
