US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials are preparing to equip agents with electrically shocky gloves that could deliver up to 380 volts per pulse, according to a DHS notice released Monday.
ICE plans to spend roughly $20 million (about £14.8 million) to purchase the “Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter” (GLOVE), a device that can deliver up to 30 pulses per second.
The gloves are intended for use by agents in Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations to help secure arrests and removals. Civil‑rights groups, including the ACLU, have warned that the devices could be used to inflict unnecessary pain and are a concern given ICE’s record of fatal shootings.
According to the DHS note, the GLOVE equips a button that, when pressed, delivers a sharp shock that can only be applied to exposed skin, such as the wrist or elbow. The device also contains internal processors that log each use.
“We may or may not deploy them. It just depends on how they act …a light indicates activation that inmates understand, often bringing compliance,” said a Tennessee jail administrator who was quoted in the original BBC report.
Compliant Technologies LLC, the manufacturer, says the gloves do not connect an electrical circuit inside the body and are not meant for injury. However, the user manual advises against use on elderly, children, pregnant women, and severely disabled persons, and recommends a second officer for restraint.
Critics point to several high‑profile fatal shootings of migrants—including the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas—and argue that ICE’s push for more covert force tools will increase the risk of harm and reduce accountability.
“ICE has historically been quick to use force and has tested the boundaries of the law,” said Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy director on policing at the ACLU. “A concealed means of delivering painful shocks—this is a recipe for more exploitation and less transparency.”
With reporting by Max Matza
