US ICE agency to spend $16.7m on electric shock gloves

Published On 28 Aug 202628 Aug 2026.

Key points

• The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is to spend $16.7m on 6, 000 pairs of electric-shock gloves.
• A notice on a federal database published on Thursday indicated that the much-maligned agency.
• The agency has concluded the contract despite mounting opposition from civil rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers.
• Critics note that ICE officers already face intense criticism over their employ of force with little oversight or accountability while enforcing Trump's immigration policies.
• Fatal shootings by ICE agents of two ⁠US citizens in Minnesota earlier this year spurred protests and widespread criticism.

Meanwhile, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is to spend $16.7m on 6, 000 pairs of electric-shock gloves.

Notably, a notice on a federal database published on Thursday indicated that the much-maligned agency. It has been the face of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, has agreed a no-bid contract with Kentucky-based firm Compliant Technologies for the supply of the gloves, alongside backing equipment and services, over the next six months.

ICE stated in its procurement notice that the "de-escalation devices" will be applied when dealing with detainees and protesters.

While transporting combative detainees, and when managing civil disturbances outside detention facilities, the agency remarked, officers will deploy the equipment in "high-tension environments", including during arrests.

"It will be used when a subject is actively or passively resisting and an officer needs to gain control quickly to prevent injuries to both parties."

In practice, the agency remarked the shocks would assist officers handle aggressive inmates, prevent escape attempts, force individuals to expose hidden hands for handcuffing, and manage crowds.

ICE continued that the gloves offer an alternative to "more severe force" such as firearms, noting they would be employed under "approved policy, training, and accountability standards".

Notably, the agency has concluded the contract despite mounting opposition from civil rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers. This person contend officers cannot be trusted to employ the technology responsibly.

For context, the American Civil Liberties ⁠Union remarked giving immigration agents "a concealed means of ⁠delivering terrible pain is a recipe for more harm to the public and less accountability".

Fatal shootings by ICE agents of two ⁠US citizens in Minnesota earlier this year spurred protests and widespread criticism. More than 50 individuals have died in ICE custody nationwide since Trump took office.

In practice, the procurement notice was posted hours after a group of US senators pressed the agency to scrap the purchase in a letter to its acting director.

"The blatant and tragic misuse of force in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston, Maine, and other locations around the country raises significant scepticism about the agency's professional capability to safely deploy a new tool that could be used to harm Americans without cause, " the letter read.

Notably, the lawmakers cautioned the technology carries "substantial risks" during civil arrests if deployed without clear limits, proper training, and independent oversight. They called on ICE to publicly disclose how officers will be trained and how the employ of the gloves will be documented and internally reviewed. The Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, dismissed the criticism.

"Sanctuary politicians attempting to ban our federal law enforcement from any safety equipment is despicable and a deliberate attempt to undermine and endanger our officers, " the agency remarked in an official note.

For now, US ICE agency to spend $16.7m on electric shock gloves remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.