ICE moves forward on procuring thousands of shock gloves
Immigration and Customs Enforcement awarded Compliant Technologies more than $16.7 million for its gloves that deliver electric shocks, per procurement documents posted Thursday.
The Department of Homeland Security component is planning to acquire around 6,650 of the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter devices. The majority — 6,000 — are what ICE is referring to as G.L.O.V.E. NR CD3. The other 650 are G.L.O.V.E CD3 TR. It is unclear what “NR” or “TR” stands for as these are not separate models listed in Compliant Technologies materials.
The investment, which comes from funding allocated by the One Big Beautiful Bill, also goes toward related support equipment and services. While still significant, the award fell short of the estimated award ceiling of $20 million that ICE set earlier this month. The contract kicked off Friday and will run through February 2027, according to USAspending.
In its justification document for the sole source contract, ICE said equipping in-the-field agents with the shock gloves would “reduce reliance on higher levels of force where appropriate” and “enhance officer and public safety.”
Lawmakers have pushed back on that idea, raising concerns around potential misuse and abuse.
In a letter sent last week, a trio of House Homeland Security Committee members urged DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to intervene and stop the acquisition process for the shock gloves. A group of 16 senators on Thursday sent a separate letter to ICE’s acting director, expressing their wariness and requesting answers to a series of questions about safe use, testing, alternatives, oversight and accountability.
“If it proceeds with this contract, ICE must establish and make public clear, enforceable limits on when and against whom the electric-shock gloves may be used,” the senators said in the letter. “Given that ICE is most frequently engaged in civil immigration enforcement rather than criminal arrests, the agency must carefully evaluate whether deployment of the electric-shock gloves in such situations is proportionate to the task.”
The senators requested responses to their questions no later than Sept. 10.
The Democratic signatories included Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Dick Durbin of Illinois, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Peter Welch of Vermont, Patty Murray of Washington, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, Andy Kim of New Jersey, Adam Schiff of California, Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Alex Padilla of California, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Angus King of Maine, an independent who caucuses with the Democratic party, also signed the letter.
“ICE must refrain from deployment of the G.L.O.V.E. and instead invest in de-escalation tools, training, and accountability,” they said.
