The Trump administration is planning to spend between $10 million and $20 million to equip federal immigration agents with gloves that can deliver electric shocks to people they are arresting. A notice posted on Monday by the Department of Homeland Security laid out the estimated cost and a deadline of March 2027 for the purchase, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
The gloves are known as the CT-G5 G.L.O.V.E., an acronym for "Generate Low Output Voltage Emitter." They are manufactured by Compliant Technologies and are currently used by some jails and police departments around the country. The company describes them as a nonlethal tool to make individuals compliant during arrests.
According to a user manual for the device, the gloves can deliver a maximum of 380 volts, which the manual says "inhibits/distracts the subject from performing coordinated muscle movement." The Department of Homeland Security said the gloves would be used for "distraction and de-escalation." Compliant Technologies says the gloves are used to "quickly distract with small uncomfortable electrical pulses" when applied to a person's skin.
Monday's notice specified that Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a requirement to make the purchase and distribute the gloves to agents within Enforcement and Removal Operations, one of its subsidiaries, and Homeland Security Investigations. ICE has led Trump's campaign of mass deportation since the start of the administration.
The planned purchase drew immediate criticism from immigration rights groups. The National Immigration Law Center issued a statement on Wednesday opposing the anticipated purchase. NILC President Kica Mantos said in the statement: "This is a rogue agency with an $80 billion slush fund that allows them to concoct and fund new ways to visit cruelty upon our communities. Arming poorly trained agents with electric shock gloves to inflict pain on our neighbors is disgusting and barbaric."
Rights advocates have said they fear the gloves will be used to harm protesters and immigrants held in the department's custody. ICE has faced mounting criticism over its tactics, including accusations of racial profiling and excessive force. At least four people have been shot dead during encounters with ICE agents since January. Dozens more have died in ICE custody.
The NILC statement also noted that in June, the Republican-led Congress passed tens of billions of dollars in new ICE spending as part of the Secure America Act, which critics say has given the agency broad resources with limited oversight.
