Electric shock gloves reportedly being considered for purchase by DHS for ICE officers.ICE to Use Electric Shock Gloves on Immigrants: Safety Tool or Abuse Risk?
Left says
- •ICE already faces intense scrutiny over fatal shootings and violent encounters, including deaths in Minnesota, raising doubts about giving officers a new pain-compliance weapon.
- •The device can be activated with a hidden push of a button, allowing shocks to be delivered covertly with little accountability or ability for bystanders to witness misuse.
- •ICE's rules of engagement and de-escalation practices are poorly understood by the public, and critics argue the agency has shown itself too quick to use force under pressure to meet arrest quotas.
- •Civil liberties advocates warn the tool could easily be misused against vulnerable people, including those merely exhibiting verbal defiance rather than physical resistance.
Right says
- •The gloves offer officers a nonlethal option to safely subdue combative individuals, potentially reducing the need for more dangerous force like firearms.
- •The device has already been used successfully in jails and by police departments, and experts describe its effect as brief and comparable to a bee sting rather than something likely to cause lasting injury.
- •Smaller, weaker, or older officers benefit from a tool that allows faster takedowns and shorter, safer confrontations with resistant subjects.
- •Officers must complete training and recertify every two years, and the manufacturer explicitly prohibits use as punishment or against vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and pregnant women.
Common Take
High Consensus- DHS is seeking $10 to $20 million to purchase the G.L.O.V.E. devices from Compliant Technologies LLC of Kentucky.
- The gloves require direct skin contact and deliver a shock designed to cause temporary pain and disrupt coordinated muscle movement.
- The manufacturer's guidelines state the devices should not be used as punishment, against verbal defiance alone, or on high-risk populations like children, the elderly, or pregnant women.
- Both sides acknowledge ICE has faced heightened scrutiny recently due to fatal shootings and violent incidents during immigration enforcement.
The Arguments
Left argues
ICE already faces intense scrutiny over fatal shootings and violent encounters, including recent deaths in Minnesota, so arming officers with a new pain-compliance weapon raises serious doubts about whether the agency can be trusted to use it responsibly.
Right counters
The gloves are precisely intended to reduce reliance on lethal force like firearms, giving officers a safer, nonlethal way to subdue combative individuals instead of escalating to shootings.
Right argues
Experts who have studied the device describe its effect as brief and comparable to a bee sting, and it has already been used successfully in jails and by police departments without evidence of lasting injury.
Left counters
A device being used in confined, closely supervised jail settings is very different from putting it in the hands of field agents facing far less oversight, especially given ICE's documented pattern of using force under pressure to meet arrest quotas.
Left argues
The device can be activated with a hidden push of a button, meaning shocks could be delivered covertly with little accountability or ability for bystanders to witness misuse, which is especially dangerous given ICE's opaque rules of engagement.
Right counters
Officers must complete manufacturer training and recertify every two years, and the company explicitly prohibits use as punishment or against vulnerable groups like children, the elderly, and pregnant women, building accountability into the deployment process.
Right argues
Smaller, weaker, or older officers benefit from a tool that allows faster takedowns and shortens confrontations with resistant subjects, potentially making encounters safer for both officers and suspects alike.
Left counters
Civil liberties advocates warn the tool could easily be misused against vulnerable people, including those merely exhibiting verbal defiance rather than physical resistance, undermining the claim that it will only be used in genuinely dangerous situations.
Left argues
Critics argue ICE has already shown itself too quick to use force under pressure to meet arrest quotas, making it reckless to hand officers a new weapon whose covert nature could enable abuse with little recourse for victims.
Right counters
DHS maintains that ICE officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and receive ongoing use-of-force training, and the manufacturer's guidelines explicitly bar use against verbal defiance alone, providing clear limits on appropriate use.
Challenge Questions
These questions target genuine internal contradictions — meant to provoke honest reflection.
Right asks Left
“If the concern is that ICE cannot be trusted to follow rules of engagement, does opposing a nonlethal tool actually reduce harm, or could it inadvertently push officers toward relying more on firearms or physical force in confrontations?”
Left asks Right
“If the manufacturer's own guidelines prohibit using the gloves for punishment or against those merely exhibiting verbal defiance, what mechanism ensures those limits are enforced in the field, given that the device can be activated covertly with no independent witness?”
Outlier Report
Left Fringe
Groups like Abolish ICE activists and some members of the ACLU's more absolutist wing (echoing Jenn Rolnick Borchetta's framing) view any new ICE force tool as inherently abusive regardless of safeguards; this represents roughly 15-20% of the left, with most Democrats favoring reform/oversight rather than outright rejection of nonlethal tools.
Right Fringe
Commentators like Collin Rugg and Eric Daugherty on X frame the gloves enthusiastically as a tool against 'illegal aliens' with little concern for potential misuse, representing a vocal minority (~15-20%) of the right that dismisses any oversight concerns as illegitimate obstruction of enforcement.
Noise Assessment
Moderate-to-high; social media amplifies both ACLU alarm and pro-enforcement cheerleading disproportionately, while most Americans likely hold a more measured, case-by-case view contingent on ICE's broader conduct and accountability record.
Sources (11)
DHS is seeking up to $20 million to purchase the gloves.
The Trump administration could soon equip federal immigration agents with gloves capable of delivering electric shocks during physical confrontations, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) procurement notice. The devices—known as the G.L.O.V.E., or Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter—are manufactured by Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies LLC, and are marketed as a tool to help officers gain control of resistant individuals during close-range encounters.
<p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/16/ice-agents-body-cameras" target="_blank">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a> plans to begin using electric shock gloves designed to cause pain and disrupt a person's ability to react.</p><p><strong>The big picture: </strong>The gloves could give ICE officers a new way to use force as their<strong> </strong>tactics face intense scrutiny after several <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/15/maine-killing-fatal-dhs-ice-shootings" target="_blank">deaths</a> and <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/01/08/dhs-ice-shootings-trump" target="_blank">violent encounters</a>.</p><hr /><p><strong>Driving the news:</strong> ICE plans to spend between $10 and $20 million on the gloves and issue them to Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations officers and agents, per a Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://apfs-cloud.dhs.gov/record/74524/public-print/" target="_blank">notice</a> published Monday. </p><ul><li>The Associated Press was first to report the plan.</li><li>The CTG-5 Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, or G.L.O.V.E, is produced by Kentucky-based Compliant Technologies, which declined to comment.</li><li>The device's user guide says it should not be used against verbal defiance or as a form of punishment. The manufacturer advises against using it on the elderly, children, pregnant women and those with serious disabilities.</li></ul><p><strong>Friction point: </strong>Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, ACLU's deputy director on policing, raised concerns about how immigration agents could use the device.</p><ul><li>"ICE spent the last year showing this country that they are willing to disregard the law and are too quick to use force, with devastating and at times fatal consequences for citizens and noncitizens alike," she said in a statement.</li><li>She noted officers could use the gloves to deliver shocks covertly, "a recipe for more harm to the public and less accountability."</li></ul><p><strong>The fine print: </strong>The gloves are meant to stop detainees or subjects from "performing coordinated muscle movement" by causing pain through direct skin contact.</p><ul><li>G.L.O.V.E. users must undergo training for certification every two years, according to the manufacturer's user manual.</li><li>A DHS spokesperson said in a statement that officers are "highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training."</li></ul><p><strong>Worth noting: </strong>ICE is also expanding its use of <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/16/ice-agents-body-cameras" target="_blank">body cameras</a> after the agency's fatal shootings and other use-of-force incidents.</p><p><strong>Zoom out: </strong>In the background, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/08/06/trump-immigration-approvals-ice-arrests" target="_blank">millions of people</a> are living in immigration limbo — colliding with the reality of ramped-up enforcement at airports, application interviews and beyond, <em>Axios' Brittany Gibson reports.</em></p><ul><li>ICE has been infused with billions from Republican lawmakers as the administration <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/28/trump-self-deportation-ice" target="_blank">maintains lofty goals</a> to remove unauthorized immigrants from the U.S.</li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/08/05/trump-deportation-costs-taxpayers" target="_blank">Trump deportations cost taxpayers $2,358 each</a></p>
<img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/ice-officers-will-have-shocking-new-glove-device-to-pacify-targets.jpg?id=67609870&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=120%2C314%2C154%2C49" /><br /><br /><p>The Department of Homeland Security is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ice-electric-shock-gloves-85ff746d3e0ee5f39e7a9a3f1f576252" target="_blank">reportedly</a> planning to spend millions to outfit Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents with gloves that can deliver an electric shock to targeted individuals.</p><p>The gloves were developed by Compliant Technologies LLC out of Lexington, Kentucky, and have already been deployed by police departments and some jails.</p><p class="pull-quote">'If the officer is getting any type of resistance from the person, this is certainly an effective tool.'</p><p>A DHS notice published Monday says the agency is seeking to spend $20 million on the shocking gloves.</p><p>The devices are named G.L.O.V.E., an acronym for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. The manufacturer says the gloves function normally until the wearer activates the electrical mode. The glove must be in contact directly with the target's skin, and the shock typically incapacitates the target in seconds. </p><p>John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, studied the device and described its effects.</p><p>"It's immediate and sharp, and it will distract you. I call it like a bee sting," said Peters. "If the officer is getting any type of resistance from the person, this is certainly an effective tool."</p><p>He went on to say the device could be misused but that it is unlikely to cause injuries. </p><p>"Unfortunately, we are unable to speak on this subject," said Compliant Technologies founder Jeff Niklaus in an email about the report.</p><p>The manufacturer said officers must complete a course on the gloves and be recertified every two years. </p><p>"For smaller officers or weaker officers or older officers, I think it has a great advantage" because it can produce faster takedowns and shorten confrontations," Peters added. </p><p><span style="background-color: initial;"><strong>RELATED: </strong></span><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/massachusetts-gov-ice-law-illegals" target="_blank"><strong>Democratic governor signs 'strongest' anti-ICE legislation yet</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube"> <span class="rm-shortcode" style="display: block; padding-top: 56.25%;"></span> </p><p>Jenn Rolnick Borchetta of the American Civil Liberties Union warned that the gloves could be abused. </p><p>"ICE spent the last year showing this country they are too quick to use force. Now they will be able to deploy electric shocks with the slight push of a button that maybe nobody else can see them do," Borchetta said. "Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public." </p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here!</a></em><em> </em></p>
Juliette Kayyem, a former assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security, said it “could be a real danger for the American public.”
The manufacturer warns the gloves should not be used as punishment, against people merely exhibiting “verbal defiance or belligerence” or on high-risk populations.
Inflation cooled a bit last month, according to a new report from the Labor Department. And, ICE plans to equip its officers with electric shock gloves.
The company said the devices function as normal gloves until activated, which enables them to deliver a painful electric shock. They must be applied directly to someone's skin, which helps the officer gain compliance within seconds.
White House border czar Tom Homan on Thursday defended plans to give Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks, arguing the devices would prevent agents from needing to resort to deadly force. “It’s another device to help someone get compliant when they are not,” Homan said in Thursday appearance…
White House border czar Tom Homan defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement's plan to give officers gloves that deliver painful electric shocks, calling them a tool to help officers end confrontations without using deadly force.