WASHINGTON — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency granted a $16.7 million contract to buy 6,000 pairs of electric shock gloves for officers in the field despite human rights advocates having raised alarm about the plans when they were revealed earlier this month.
A notice on a federal database said that ICE, which has been the face of President Donald Trump'simmigration crackdown, entered into a no-bid contract to purchase the gloves from Kentucky-based firm Compliant Technologies.
The notice said 6,000 of the devices, which can give painful electric shocks and aim to disrupt an individual's capacity to respond, will be bought with support equipment and services over the next six months.
People are also reading…
The website of the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, said this month ICE planned to buy CTG-5 Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, or GLOVE units.
The American Civil Liberties Union said that giving immigration agents "a concealed means of delivering terrible pain is a recipe for more harm to the public and less âaccountability."
â DHS described the gloves as "a Conductive Distraction and De-escalation Device which âwill be issued to Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations officers âand agents."
Fatal shootings by ICE agents of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota earlier this year and âconcerns by rights âgroups about â conditions in ICE detention have sparked protests.
Over 50 people have âdied in ICE custody nationwide since Trump took office âearly â last year.
Trump says his immigration crackdown aims to improve domestic security.
Rights groups call it discriminatory, saying it â violates âfree speech and due process rights while also âcreating an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling.
