Democrats push back on ICE purchase of electric shock gloves: ‘How soon will they be used to inflict further cruelty?’ Dem Sen. Adam Schiff asks
Congressional Democrats are pushing back against plans by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to spend as much as $20 million on electric shock gloves, warning the devices could lead to further abuses by immigration officers.
Plans to purchase electric gloves
ICE published a notice outlining plans to purchase G.L.O.V.E. — Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter — devices. The agency described the gloves as a “distraction and de-escalation device,” but Democrats questioned giving officers another use-of-force tool following several controversial encounters with the public.
“Senate Republicans had the opportunity to rein in ICE and CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection], they refused. Instead, they handed DHS BILLIONS more of your tax dollars without any constraint after the shooting and killing individuals in the streets. Now, ICE is looking to purchase electrical shock gloves to continue terrorizing our communities,” Sen. Adam Schiff wrote on X. “How soon will they be used to inflict further cruelty?”
House Homeland Security Committee Democrats similarly condemned the proposed purchase.
“ICE agents shoot innocent people. They pepper spray innocent people. And now the Trump administration wants to spend $20 MILLION to give them gloves to tase people. This is insanity,” the Democrats wrote. “ICE does not need another weapon.”
Warning from the manufacturer
The manufacturer, Compliant Technologies, warns in its guidance that failure to follow instructions could result in “injury or death.” The company advises against using the gloves on pregnant women or elderly people and cautions that individuals could have “underlying medical conditions that may or may not be easily discernible with casual observation.”
ICE defended its plans, saying officers “regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”
“ICE is constantly assessing the needs of our officers in the field to ensure they have the tools and equipment necessary to safely arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our country. 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,” the agency said.
The White House responds
Border czar Tom Homan said the devices could provide officers with an intermediary option when dealing with noncompliant individuals.
“Look, it’s another device to help someone be compliant, whether or not — you know, you just can’t go from zero to 100, right?” Homan said.
Homan suggested the gloves might be better suited for detention facilities and said training protocols are still under review.
Democrats remain unconvinced.
“As if assaulting people and shooting people in the streets wasn’t enough. Now, they’re spending $20 million of YOUR taxpayer dollars on painful electric shock gloves for their masked, lawless goons,” Rep. Maxwell Frost wrote on X.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said her state is reviewing the purchase for potential legal action.
“Of course, we are outraged, and in the event that a New Yorker is injured as a result of these gloves, obviously there will be a private right of action as well as action from the state of New York,” James said. “You can best be assured of that.”