ICE’s new ‘shock gloves’ are dangerous, inhumane and totally unnecessary

According to a recent Department of Homeland Security notice, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency plans to spend up to $20 million on gloves that deliver painful electric shocks. At the push of a button, a one-second shock from these gloves can send a grown man to the ground.

On “Fox & Friends,” White House border czar Tom Homan said the gloves would prevent ICE agents from needing to use deadly force. “It’s another device to help someone get compliant when they are not.”

These shock gloves are a new low in ICE’s campaign of cruelty. Their use holds great potential for harm to migrants and U.S. citizens alike, and will enable more ICE brutality while helping agents evade accountability for their actions.

The manufacturer of the gloves, formally named the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, markets them as a “de-escalation device.” But there is no reason to believe that ICE agents will use them that way. Instead, the gloves will likely embolden a paramilitary force known for aggressive behavior, racial profiling and violence.

ICE agents have kicked, punched and tackled people hundreds of times, and deployed chemical irritants regularly. They use chokeholds and neck restraints, tactics that are prohibited by other law enforcement agencies. They have fatally shot at least three confirmed American citizens: Alex Pretti, Renee Good and Ruben Ray Martinez. With the shock gloves, agents will have a new tool with which to inflict pain on anyone they say is suspected of being in the country illegally.

The manufacturer of the shock gloves warns that they should not be used on children, pregnant woman, the elderly or disabled people. Yet ICE frequently encounters members of these high-risk categories. People with disabilities are especially vulnerable to harm from the gloves, because not all medical conditions — like epilepsy, heart disease or mental health issues — are visible. Given that ICE disproportionately targets Latinos , a demographic with high rates of cardiovascular disease, the planned use of the gloves will almost certainly lead to serious medical incidents.

Consider that the gloves’ training manual comes with a red warning label , noting that improper use may result in injury or death.

The rationale behind the use of such gloves is disturbing. They were specifically designed to be “low optics,” meaning their use will not be visible as other policing methods. On a promotional video by the manufacturer, supporters of the gloves say that they “Look better to those witnesses” and that they are “conducive to not leading to lawsuits.” Because the electric shocks do not leave burns or marks, there is nothing to stop agents from using the gloves repeatedly on a person, or after a person has been subdued. Nor is there anything to prevent multiple agents from shocking a single person simultaneously. What could possibly go wrong?

The real question is why ICE needs these gloves at all. Immigration agents are well equipped with firearms, pepper spray and batons. ICE and the Customs and Border Protection agency plan to spend $144 million in 2025 on guns, ammunition and “less lethal” weapons such as tasers and pepper sprays, according to a February report by Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Just weeks later, the administration announced its intent to purchase more than 17,000 tasers for another $220 million . It’s hard to see how agents need another tool in their arsenal when they are already armed to the hilt.

ICE’s shock gloves raise legal issues as well. Their use may violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment,” and the constitutional guarantee of due process. New York’s governor and attorney general have both criticized the new gloves , suggesting that their use may run afoul of state and civil rights laws.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said , “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.” Yet ICE is generally not going after “criminal illegal aliens.” About 70 percent of people in immigration detention have no criminal convictions at all. ICE is also operating in an environment with little oversight, as the administration has gutted the agency’s internal watchdogs .

Meanwhile, the president’s popularity is cratering , and a majority of American voters disapprove of how ICE is doing its job. Immigration agents should be reined in, not empowered to inflict more suffering on their targets.

ICE’s shock gloves are dangerous, inhumane and unnecessary. A rogue agency that violates human and civil rights does not deserve more weapons.

Raul A. Reyes is an award-winning journalist, attorney and television commentator in New York City.