US immigration police to receive electric shock gloves under $10-20M contract, drawing criticism from lawmakers and ACLU

Contract and equipment

The US Department of Homeland Security has signed a contract with Compliant Technologies, a Kentucky-based manufacturer, to equip ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents with electric impulse gloves. The contract value falls between $10 and $20 million. The gloves, marketed under the name G.L.O.V.E., deliver an electric shock less powerful than a Taser upon contact with skin, inhibiting muscle mobility. An Instagram demonstration by the company shows an agent pressing the glove onto a person's arm during a physical altercation, causing the person to fall to the ground immediately.

The gloves are activated by a button on the back of the hand. According to the manufacturer's manual, no more than two gloves should be used simultaneously on a person, and exposure to the electric discharge should not exceed 15 seconds. The manual also recommends against using the gloves on elderly individuals, children, pregnant women, or persons with disabilities. Certification to use the device is valid for two years, after which recertification is required. The manual warns the gloves "must be treated with seriousness, like any other weapon" and that misuse can cause injury or death.

Administration defense

White House border czar Thomas Homan defended the gloves in an interview on the Fox News program "Fox and Friends." He argued the gloves provide an intermediate option between verbal compliance and lethal force.

It's another resource to help someone comply with orders when they're not doing so. You can't simply go from zero to one hundred and go straight to the use of lethal force.

Homan stated that the training protocol for the gloves is still being written and reviewed, meaning agents will not use them immediately. The Department of Homeland Security said ICE "continually assesses the needs of its agents in the field to ensure they have the tools and equipment necessary to safely arrest and remove criminal aliens in illegal status."

Criticism from former officials and lawmakers

John Sandweg, former acting ICE director under Barack Obama, expressed concern about deploying the technology without adequate training.

Deploying this non-lethal technology at a time when you're not really interested in training agents to use this technology is truly worrying.

Sandweg added that it takes little imagination to picture the gloves being used against "a mother who resists a little because she is separated from her child," warning of potential abuses against "a population that poses no danger." Democratic Representative Maxwell Frost of Florida criticized the spending, saying taxpayers are funding "$20 million from taxpayers' pockets" to equip agents with "painful electric impulse gloves." Representative Pramila Jayapal said the gloves "will protect no one" and would give ICE "a new dangerous tool to go after both American citizens and immigrants."

Broader context of ICE operations

The controversy comes as ICE operations have intensified under the Trump administration's mass deportation policy. In July 2026, ICE arrested more than 51,000 people for immigration law violations, the highest monthly figure since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. The agency has faced criticism over its methods and the training of its agents. In January 2026, the death of two American protesters in Minneapolis from ICE gunfire provoked national outrage, fueled by images of raids targeting Hispanic populations and agents described as visibly poorly trained. The ACLU has filed more than 50 complaints regarding potential abuses by immigration police across the country.