US immigration agency to spend $20m on electric shock gloves for officers

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency plans to spend up to $20 million on gloves that deliver painful electric shocks to gain compliance from combative individuals, with distribution to officers and agents set to begin by March 2027.

The devices, known as the G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC and function as standard patrol gloves until officers activate an electrical mode by pressing a switch. The gloves deliver up to 380 volts of electricity when applied directly to a person's skin, producing a pain stimulus designed to secure compliance within seconds, according to the manufacturer.

The gloves will be distributed to personnel in ICE's Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations divisions. The Department of Homeland Security published a notice of the plan on Wednesday, with a no-bid contract solicitation potentially to follow as early as Friday.

Compliant Technologies has cautioned that the devices should not be used as punishment, against individuals merely exhibiting verbal defiance or belligerence, or on high-risk populations. The manufacturer recommends that users undergo training and be recertified every two years.

The gloves have already been adopted by select police departments and jails in recent years. However, civil rights advocates have raised serious concerns about the plan. Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Associated Press that "introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public." She added that ICE officers demonstrated a pattern of force misuse, citing a report that found officers engaged in misuse of force 412 times within a single year at immigration protests.

Advocates point to limited oversight and accountability mechanisms governing ICE's use of force, particularly as the agency intensifies immigration enforcement operations. The Department of Homeland Security has not yet provided detailed comment on the procurement plan.