In a moment when the boundaries of state power over human bodies are being actively redrawn, the United States government has committed up to $28 million to equip immigration officers with electric shock gloves — devices that deliver pain on contact and were designed, their makers say, to calm confrontation. The acquisition arrives amid intensified enforcement operations and growing public unease about the treatment of migrants, many of whom belong to the very populations the manufacturer warns should not be subjected to the technology. History has long shown that tools of force, once placed i
ICE to Deploy Electric Shock Gloves Despite Abuse Concerns
A 43-year-old man died in 2024 after being shocked 27 times with the gloves and 13 times with a taser; multiple other injury lawsuits filed alleging unnecessary pain and health complications.
The idea that you need this level of force to subdue a non-criminal immigrant
Mark
Why would ICE need these gloves now, specifically? What problem are they trying to solve?
Mimi
That's the question nobody's really answered. The manufacturer says they're for de-escalation, but ICE agents already have tasers, batons, and the ability to call for backup. The timing suggests this is about having more tools available during a period of aggressive enforcement. When you give officers a new option, they tend to use it.
Mark
The manufacturer says they're safe. Why don't we believe them?
Mimi
Because the evidence contradicts the marketing. A man died after being shocked 27 times—way beyond safe limits. The manufacturer's own warnings say don't use these on elderly people, pregnant women, people with disabilities. But those are exactly the people ICE encounters. If the device is truly safe, why the warnings?
Mark
Could this actually reduce injuries overall? Maybe officers use less force if they have this option?
Mimi
That's the theory. But the law professor made the real point: if you have a painful shock device in your hand, will you use it instead of talking someone down? Will you skip the steps that might work and go straight to pain? There's no evidence these devices reduce overall force. There's only evidence they get used.
Mark
What happens if someone dies?
Mimi
Then ICE faces lawsuits, like they do now. But by then the damage is done. The question is whether the agency will actually discipline officers who misuse them, or whether the gloves just become another tool in a toolkit that's already being used aggressively.
Mark
Can New York actually stop this?
Mimi
Not really. New York can prosecute its own officers for misuse, but ICE is federal. The state can warn and threaten consequences, but the gloves are already being distributed. The real check would be Congress or the courts, and neither has shown much appetite to constrain immigration enforcement.
O Pulso
- ICE is spending up to $28 million on electric shock gloves that activate at the press of a button, framing a pain-delivery device as a de-escalation tool.
- A 43-year-old man died in 2024 after being shocked 27 times with the gloves and 13 more times with a taser, with internal findings confirming shocks far exceeded safe duration limits.
- Former ICE leadership and legal scholars are sounding alarms that officers will reach for the gloves too quickly, bypassing less forceful options when dealing with non-criminal detainees.
- The manufacturer's own warnings exclude the elderly, pregnant women, children, and people with disabilities — groups that form the core of ICE's enforcement encounters.
- New York's Attorney General has warned of criminal consequences for misuse, but state-level pressure may prove fragile against a federally sanctioned rollout already underway.
In a moment when the boundaries of state power over human bodies are being actively redrawn, the United States government has committed up to $28 million to equip immigration officers with electric shock gloves — devices that deliver pain on contact and were designed, their makers say, to calm confrontation. The acquisition arrives amid intensified enforcement operations and growing public unease about the treatment of migrants, many of whom belong to the very populations the manufacturer warns should not be subjected to the technology. History has long shown that tools of force, once placed in the hands of those under pressure, tend to find uses beyond their stated purpose — and the question now is whether institutional restraint can outpace institutional temptation.
The Department of Homeland Security has approved the purchase of electric shock gloves for ICE officers — up to $28 million worth of devices manufactured in Kentucky under the name G.L.O.V.E., which function as ordinary patrol gloves until a button is pressed to deliver an electrical shock directly to skin. The manufacturer markets them as de-escalation tools that reduce injury risk for everyone involved. Critics, including former ICE acting director John Sandweg, see something else entirely: a high-abuse-potential instrument being handed to officers already under pressure in a politically charged enforcement environment. "The idea that you need this level of force to subdue a non-criminal immigrant in a secure environment — that is alarming," Sandweg told TIME.
The safety record compounds the concern. A pending lawsuit alleges a 43-year-old man died in 2024 after being shocked 27 times with the gloves and 13 times with a taser at a Kentucky jail. An internal investigation found two shocks lasted 45 and 99 seconds — three to six times the manufacturer's recommended limit — and concluded they inflicted unnecessary pain and elevated health risks. At least two other lawsuits have alleged injuries from the devices in unrelated settings, suggesting a pattern of use that strays from intended purpose.
The contradiction at the heart of the acquisition is difficult to ignore. Compliant Technologies insists the gloves are safe and do not affect heart rhythm or the central nervous system — yet the company explicitly warns against using them on the elderly, pregnant women, small children, and people with disabilities. These are not edge cases in immigration enforcement; they are routine encounters. New York Attorney General Letitia James has warned that officers who misuse the gloves could face criminal and civil liability, but state-level warnings carry uncertain weight against a federally sanctioned deployment. The real reckoning will unfold in the field, in the courts, and in the choices individual officers make when a painful tool is suddenly within reach.
The Department of Homeland Security has approved a purchase of electric shock gloves for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, committing up to $28 million to equip agents with devices that deliver painful electrical currents to force compliance. The gloves, manufactured in Kentucky by Compliant Technologies and marketed under the acronym G.L.O.V.E.—Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter—operate as ordinary patrol gloves until an officer presses a button to activate electrical mode, at which point they must be pressed directly against skin to produce a shock. The manufacturer describes them as tools for de-escalation, claiming they reduce injury risk for both officers and civilians. But the decision has drawn sharp criticism from elected officials, former immigration enforcement leadership, and legal experts who see the acquisition as a dangerous escalation in an agency already facing scrutiny over its use of force.
The timing matters. Since President Trump returned to office, ICE has intensified enforcement operations tied to his immigration crackdown, and officers have faced mounting protests over their tactics. Against this backdrop, the introduction of a device designed to inflict pain raises immediate questions about restraint and judgment. Former ICE acting director John Sandweg told TIME Magazine he saw a "high potential of abuse" in the technology. "The idea that you need tools like this, this level of force, to subdue a non-criminal immigrant who's in a secure environment—that is alarming," he said. Michael Mannheimer, a law professor at Northern Kentucky University who studies police use of force, echoed the concern: if officers have the gloves immediately available, will they reach for them too quickly, bypassing less forceful options that might work just as well?
The safety record raises legitimate alarm. A pending lawsuit alleges that a 43-year-old man died in 2024 after being shocked 27 times with the gloves and an additional 13 times with a taser at a jail in Richmond, Kentucky. An internal investigation by the Madison County Detention Center found that two of the glove shocks lasted 45 and 99 seconds—far exceeding the manufacturer's recommended 15-second limit. The investigation concluded the shocks "inflicted unnecessary pain but also heightened the risk of serious health complications." At least two other lawsuits have alleged injuries from the devices: one involving a man with heart problems shocked at a Las Vegas trade show, and another in which a man claimed he was unnecessarily shocked in court and then laughed at by officers. Both cases were dismissed, but the pattern suggests the gloves are being used in ways their makers did not intend.
Compliant Technologies maintains the devices are safe, claiming they leave no contact wounds, do not affect heart rhythm, and localize pain to the point of contact rather than affecting the central nervous system. Yet the manufacturer itself has issued warnings against using the gloves on certain populations—the elderly, small children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. These are precisely the groups ICE agents routinely encounter in immigration enforcement. The contradiction is stark: a tool marketed as safe for general use comes with explicit warnings against using it on vulnerable people, yet will be placed in the hands of officers working in an environment where vulnerable people are common.
State-level pushback has begun. New York Attorney General Letitia James held a press conference this week to announce action against ICE overreach in her state, warning that officers who misuse the gloves could face criminal and civil consequences. But warnings from state officials may offer limited protection if the federal government is actively distributing the devices and encouraging their use. The real test will come in the field—whether ICE supervisors enforce restraint, whether officers resist the temptation to reach for a tool that's suddenly at their fingertips, and whether the courts ultimately hold the agency accountable when the gloves are used on people they were never meant to touch.
Citações Notáveis
The idea that you need tools like this, this level of force, to subdue a non-criminal immigrant who's in a secure environment—that is alarming.— John Sandweg, former ICE acting director, to TIME Magazine
If ICE agents have this at their immediate disposal, will they use it more than they should? Will they jump over lesser force that could be appropriate and instead use this first?— Michael Mannheimer, law professor at Northern Kentucky University
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Leia o original em ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation ↗
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