They look like ordinary tactical gloves, but with the press of a button they can become a tool capable of delivering a painful electric shock to anyone an immigration officer touches with them. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has just taken the next step to introduce them into its operations: it awarded a $16.7 million contract to buy 6,000 pairs amid intense questioning over the use of force and the safeguards for the new technology.
The contract, awarded without a competitive bid to Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies, covers the gloves, support equipment and services for six months. Each pair is priced at $2,495. The devices are marketed as G.L.O.V.E., an acronym for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. They function like normal gloves until an officer activates their electric mode with a button. To deliver a shock, they must make direct contact with a person’s skin.
In its procurement documents, ICE describes them as “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” and says they will be used in high-tension situations that could include arrests, prisoner transfers, and disturbances at detention centers.
According to the agency, the gloves could be used when a person displays active or passive resistance and an officer needs to gain control quickly to prevent injuries. ICE argues the tool may reduce the need for physical force and offers an alternative to resorting to a firearm in more dangerous situations.
“ICE currently lacks an empty-hand use-of-force device it can provide officers in the field amid unprecedented levels of threats and violence against ICE officers and personnel, to help ensure they can de-escalate tense situations before they become violent,” the agency said in the contracting documents.
But the purchase has provoked an immediate backlash from Democratic lawmakers and civil-rights groups, who question both the need for the device and ICE’s ability to use it responsibly.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat from Nevada, led a letter signed by 15 other senators asking ICE to cancel the plan. The lawmakers expressed doubts about the agency’s capacity to safely integrate a tool that can inflict pain during civil arrests.
“The blatant and tragic misuse of force in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston, Maine, and other locations around the country raises significant skepticism about the agency’s professional capability to safely deploy a new tool that could be used to harm Americans without cause,” they wrote.
The senators warned the device poses “substantial risks” if used during civil arrests, especially without clear limits, adequate training, and comprehensive oversight. They also demanded ICE publish the training protocols and the procedures for documenting and reviewing every use of the gloves.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also questioned the procurement. The organization said giving immigration officers “a covert means of delivering terrible pain is a recipe for more harm to the public and less accountability.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defended the purchase and said officers receive training in de-escalation tactics. A spokesperson described the Democratic criticism as “despicable” and a deliberate attempt to “undermine and endanger our officers.”
In California, Democratic lawmakers fast-tracked bill AB 2760. The measure would ban federal agents and state and local police from using devices capable of delivering electric shocks and bar police departments from buying them with state funds.
Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins, the bill’s author, defended the measure before legislators. “While the gloves are not currently being used in California, waiting for a tragedy to act, in my personal opinion, and so many others, would be something that California could not handle,” she said.
Although ICE says the gloves will be used under policies, training requirements, and accountability standards, the procurement documents do not detail those safeguards. Compliant Technologies’ manual recommends giving a person a reasonable opportunity to comply before using force and states the devices should not be used as punishment or against elderly people, pregnant women, young children, or people with serious disabilities.
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