US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers may soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks as they carry out their law enforcement duties. The plan was unveiled in a recent notice published by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and has been condemned by Democratic elected officials and civil rights activists. According to the notice, ICE plans to spend $10-20 million providing officers and agents with so-called “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices" The gloves can deliver shocks of up to 380 volts of electricity and are intended to gain compliance from people who are resisting. Speaking at a news conference after the plan was unveiled, New York Attorney General Letitia James said it “appears to be in violation of a number of laws, including our constitution.” Civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have also expressed concern about the use of such devices by law enforcement.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency plans to buy electric shock gloves for officers in the field, alarming rights advocates who have condemned the action of ICE during President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
A note on the website of the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part, says ICE plans to spend up to $20 million on CTG-5 Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, or GLOVE units.
The electric shock gloves aim to disrupt an individual's capacity to respond.
The American Civil Liberties Union said giving immigration agents "a concealed means of delivering terrible pain is a recipe for more harm to the public and less accountability."
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ICE officers are trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive "ongoing use of force training," the DHS said.
"Every decision is made with careful consideration and appropriately reviewed to ensure that any technology ICE utilizes is consistent with all applicable law enforcement policies and standards," a DHS spokesperson claimed.
FILE PHOTO: Masked law enforcement officers, including HSI and ICE agents, walk into an immigration court in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., May 21, 2025. REUTERS/Caitlin O'Hara/File Photo
Killings by ICE agents of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota this year and concerns by rights groups about conditions in ICE detention centers led to nationwide protests against the agency's tactics.
More than 50 people have died in ICE custody nationwide since Trump took office in January last year, according to the immigration agency.
Trump says the aim of the immigration crackdown is to improve domestic security.
Rights groups say Trump's crackdown has violated free speech and due process rights and created an unsafe environment, particularly for ethnic minorities, who have raised concerns about racial profiling.
