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ICE Pans to Equip Officers With Electric-Shock Gloves, Raising Concerns Over Use of Force
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to spend as much as $20 million to equip officers and agents with gloves capable of delivering painful electric shocks to people they are attempting to detain or bring into compliance.
The plan, first reported by The Associated Press, calls for ICE to purchase thousands of what the Department of Homeland Security describes as “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices.” The devices are known as G.L.O.V.E., an acronym for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter.
The gloves are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexington, Kentucky, and have been used by some jails and police departments in recent years.
According to the AP, ICE intends to issue the technology to officers and agents with its Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations divisions. A no-bid contract could be awarded as early as this week, with the equipment expected to be supplied by March 2027.
The technology is designed to look and function like an ordinary patrol glove until an officer activates its electrical function. The glove must make direct contact with a person’s skin to deliver an electrical shock intended to cause pain and disrupt muscle coordination.
The manufacturer describes the device as a tool intended to gain compliance quickly and as an alternative to more traditional weapons such as Tasers. The company says the electrical stimulus can help officers gain compliance within seconds.
Civil rights advocates, however, are raising concerns about the potential for misuse, particularly as ICE has faced increasing scrutiny over its use of force during the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign.
Critics say the gloves could make it easier for officers to use painful force against people who may not pose an immediate physical threat.
The concerns are particularly acute because the devices are designed to deliver pain without necessarily leaving visible marks. That characteristic has prompted questions about how their use would be documented and monitored and whether officers could face adequate accountability when force is used.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is among those criticizing the plan. Concerns have also been raised about the potential use of the devices against vulnerable people, including children, elderly people and pregnant women.
The controversy comes as ICE continues to operate under an expanded enforcement mandate and amid heightened scrutiny of the agency’s tactics. Congressional lawmakers and civil rights organizations have previously called for greater transparency, body-worn cameras, visible identification of immigration officers and stronger oversight of ICE use-of-force practices.
The proposed purchase also raises broader questions about the role of force in immigration enforcement. Unlike conventional police encounters, immigration enforcement frequently involves people whose primary interaction with the federal government is based on their immigration status rather than an allegation that they committed a violent crime.
The Associated Press reported that DHS did not immediately provide a substantive response to questions about why the agency selected the electric-shock gloves or how their use would be governed.
The devices have also drawn scrutiny because of allegations involving their use in detention settings. The AP reported that a lawsuit in Kentucky alleged repeated shocks from similar gloves, combined with Taser use, contributed to a man’s death in a jail. Other lawsuits have alleged misuse, although some cases have been dismissed.
The planned expenditure comes as the federal government dramatically expands resources devoted to immigration enforcement.
For critics, the issue is not simply whether the gloves can be characterized as less lethal than other weapons. They argue that the fundamental question is when federal immigration officers should be authorized to inflict pain on people during arrests and detention—and what safeguards will prevent that authority from being abused.
The proposed ICE purchase could therefore become another flashpoint in the ongoing national debate over the scope of federal immigration enforcement, the use of force and the accountability of federal agents operating in American communities.
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