'A perfect tool for abuse.' Why experts are concerned about ICE's $17 million electric shock gloves contract

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents may soon be outfitted with electric shock gloves that can deliver painful jolts when they come in contact with a person's skin. While ICE says the new gear will help agents deescalate situations with detainees or protesters without relying on "higher levels of force," Democrats in Congress and civil rights advocates are pushing back, in no small measure because of the agency's history of deadly clashes.

"ICE requires a low-impact tool for its officers and agents to utilize in cases where an individual is resisting arrest or otherwise represents a clear threat to officers and agents," the August contract justification said. "It will be used when a subject is actively or passively resisting and an officer needs to gain control quickly to prevent injuries to both parties."

White House border czar Tom Homan has argued the gloves could help avert deadly encounters.

"It's another device to help someone get compliant when they are not," Homan said in an Aug. 13 Fox News interview. "You can't just go from 0 to 100, right, and the first thing you go for is lethal force."

But the nearly $17 million contract for 6,000 pairs of gloves comes as ICE officers' use of force is facing increased scrutiny.

"It's a terrible idea for an agency with this level of violence, a record of dishonesty and its use of force records, and just a general lack of accountability structures to get this technology," said Katherine Hawkins, senior legal analyst at the Project on Government Oversight.

California's legislature swiftly passed a bill on Monday in reaction to the Trump administration's move, banning law enforcement officers from using electric shock gloves. Local police agencies have opposed the bill, saying the gloves are an important deescalation tool.

Whether California will successfully limit ICE agents from wearing the gloves is unclear. In February, a federal judge struck down a California law that would have banned ICE officers from wearing face masks.

Here's what to know about the gloves and the concerns surrounding them.

How do the gloves work?

The six-month, no-bid contract was awarded to Compliant Technologies LLC, a Kentucky-based company that makes products for law enforcement.

According to the company's website, the Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter, or G.L.O.V.E., includes a button officers press to activate. The electrical shock is emitted when the gloves come in contact with a person's bare skin.

The company has referred to the gloves, which cost $2,400 a pair, as a "pain compliance tool."

READ MORE: AP report: ICE plans to give its officers gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks

The product's user manual recommends not using it on elderly people, small children, pregnant women and "the severely handicapped." It also notes that the gloves may contribute to death or serious injury, and the electric shock can increase blood pressure, heart rate and adrenaline and can cause changes in heart rhythm.

The manual also says the gloves should not be deployed against verbal defiance or "belligerence" or as a form of punishment or torture.

Some local law enforcement agencies have already deployed the devices. In Dallas, KDFW reported that trained senior supervisors in Tarrant County Jail have been using the gloves for a year when inmates physically resist. Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn said the gloves have been "successfully" used a few times.

Compliant Technologies president Dan De La Cruz said in a podcast interview that his company's product is "so benign and humane that nobody gets hurt."

But the Associated Press reported that there is a pending lawsuit in Kentucky following the death of a 43-year-old man after being shocked 27 times with the gloves and another 13 times with a Taser at the Madison County Detention Center.

ICE hasn't detailed when or by whom the gloves will be used

The Department of Homeland Security hasn't published detailed plans about who at ICE will have access to the gloves, what training will be required to use them or what oversight measures will be implemented for their use. DHS did not respond to PBS News' request for comment.

Several Democratic senators have written DHS letters voicing their opposition to the electric shock gloves. The senators have requested ICE make public training requirements and "establish a robust system for documenting and reviewing every deployment and instance of use."

WATCH: ICE shootings spark outrage, protests across the country demanding accountability

Christopher Schneider, a sociology professor at Brandon University who studies policing, described the technology's rollout as "problematic."

He said ICE hasn't explained how its officers who are out in the field will know whether someone is pregnant or has a pacemaker and therefore should not have the gloves used on them. This could lead to "adverse consequences," he said.

WATCH: Minnesota leaders and protesters push for accountability after ICE shooting

Schneider also noted that it's unclear whether there are oversight mechanisms that will require officers to detail when and why they used the gloves. The gloves' user manual says they include a memory card that stores data when the gloves are activated.

"They are sort of a perfect tool for abuse," Schneider said, especially if they're used behind closed doors.

He said the gloves, which don't leave marks on people's skin, may make the "use of force more visually appealing," compared with other methods like a baton, Taser or gun.

Schneider said he believes the acquisition of the gloves is connected to ICE's move to equip its officers with body cameras in the next few months. The agency's policy says video will only be released when it's in the agency's best interest, according to the Associated Press.

READ MORE: ICE will only release body camera video when in agency's 'best interests,' policy says

During a demonstration of his company's shock gloves, De La Cruz said if a suspect is refusing to give law enforcement their hands to get handcuffed, agents are typically "forced to strike them, dig their knees into them, do multiple things. None of this looks good on camera."

He then uses the glove on a person's back.

"That was horrible, but you're not hurt," De La Cruz said. "And everything they saw on camera, I didn't strike you, I didn't do anything."

Civil rights advocates criticize ICE's lack of accountability

Experts in civil rights and government oversight who spoke with PBS News raised the lack of oversight and accountability as a central concern over ICE's eventual deployment of the electric shock gloves.

"We certainly don't have any assurance that if shock gloves are used on people and it results in severe injury, that ICE is actually gonna investigate that and tell the truth about it," said Naureen Shah, who leads immigration policy at the American Civil Liberties Union.

A boost in ICE hiring has also led to scaled-back training for new recruits, which further intensifies advocates' concerns over the new technology.

WATCH: Deadly shootings by ICE officers renew scrutiny of recruitment and training

Hawkins said the lack of accountability has "gotten particularly bad," under President Donald Trump's administration. Use of force increased "dramatically" in early 2025, according to a report by American Oversight, a government watchdog nonprofit.

While use of force by ICE can be subjected to a civil rights review and prosecution, Hawkins said, "it is very, very difficult to hold officers accountable at the best of times and even more so now."

PBS News multiplatform reporter Tim McPhillips contributed reporting for this story.