House Democrats urge DHS’s Mullin to scrap ICE plans for shock gloves

Lawmakers are pushing back on Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to equip in-the-field agents with gloves that deliver electric shocks. 

Members of the House Committee on Homeland Security sent a letter this week to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, urging him to intervene and halt the procurement. The signatories included Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the committee’s top Democrat, as well as Reps. Luis Correa of California and Shri Thanedar of Michigan, ranking members of the Border Security and Enforcement, and Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability subcommittees, respectively.

The representatives warned of the technology being “incorrectly used or abused by officers resulting in injury or death,” per the letter. 

In acquisition planning documents published earlier this month, DHS said it intends to invest up to $20 million into Compliant Technologies’ Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter devices for Homeland Security Investigations officers and Enforcement Removal Operations agents. The contract is expected to be awarded later this year. 

“ICE is constantly assessing the needs of our officers in the field to ensure they have the tools and equipment necessary to safely arrest and remove criminal illegal aliens from our country,” a DHS spokesperson said in an email. “Every decision is made with careful consideration and appropriately reviewed to ensure that any technology ICE utilizes is consistent with all applicable law enforcement policies and standards.”

The gloves are “low optics” and simple enough to use, turning on with the push of a button in just one second, or even faster when operating in standby mode, according to promotional material from Compliant Technologies.

While the vendor says the devices “pose no immediate threat or significant health risk,” the company does warn that use can lead to increased blood pressure and heart rate, as well as changes in blood chemistry and heart rhythm. Compliant Technologies recommended law enforcement avoid using the devices on certain members of the community, such as pregnant women or small children.

“The longer the [conductive distraction and de-escalation device] exposure, the greater the potential risk,”  the vendor said in a product user guide. The shock gloves have an embedded microprocessor that keeps a record of “activation events.”

Tom Homan, the White House’s so-called border czar, characterized the gloves as an alternative to lethal force during an appearance on a morning broadcast program. Lawmakers, however, aren’t convinced. 

“As we have raised in previous letters, DHS personnel have also permanently injured and nearly killed innocent people with so-called ‘less-lethal’ weapons, not unlike the G.L.O.V.E.,” the three ranking members said in their letter. “ICE has demonstrated a pattern of misusing tools and devices, including rubber bullets and chemical sprays, in manners that put the public at greater risk of serious injury or death.”

Concerns tied to the shock gloves have also come from the public, as well as local leaders. On Monday, the committee held a Democratic-led shadow hearing in Maine where community members urged congressional leaders to step in. 

“Reports that ICE is investing $20 million in electrified gloves underscores the urgent need for immediate congressional action to further prevent predictable harm,” Mufalo Chitham, executive director at Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, said during the hearing.