ICE agents in US to be equipped with pain-delivering electric shock gloves

Agency says gloves will be used in ‘high-tension environments’, like managing detainees and controlling crowds

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a US$16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks, saying officers would use them to control detainees and protesters who resist.

ICE moved forward with the purchase despite opposition from civil rights advocates and Democratic members of Congress, who said ICE officers cannot be trusted to use them appropriately.

A notice published in a federal database Thursday said ICE entered into a no-bid contract to purchase the gloves from Compliant Technologies LLC, a Kentucky-based firm that manufactures them. The deal includes acquiring 6,000 of the devices along with support equipment and services over the next six months.

Civil rights advocates have said ICE officers already face criticism for their use of force with little oversight or accountability while enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

ICE published the notice hours after a group of US senators, led by Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, urged the agency to cancel its plan to buy the gloves. In a letter to ICE’s acting director Thursday, Cortez Masto and 15 of her colleagues in the Democratic caucus questioned ICE’s need for the devices.

“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 said.