An October 2024 US Army trial found that role-playing soldiers stopped resisting within seconds of being shocked, with test subjects reporting lingering fear and soreness

UU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is moving forward with plans to equip its officers with electric-shock gloves despite an internal military study showing the devices caused intense pain and fear during testing on Army personnel.

ICE signed a $16.7 million contract in August to purchase 6,000 pairs of the devices, known as the G.L.O.V.E., short for “Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter,” according to government records obtained by American Oversight and reported by the Associated Press.

The Department of Homeland Security previously indicated in a public notice that it planned to spend up to $20 million on the technology to acquire thousands of “conductive distraction and de-escalation devices” by March. The contract reportedly describes the equipment as “a low-impact tool” intended for situations where a person actively resists arrest or poses a clear threat, according to American Oversight, a nonpartisan government watchdog group.

Manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC, based in Lexington, Kentucky, the equipment functions as standard patrol gear until an officer activates a switch. The device delivers an electrical charge upon direct contact with skin, targeting peripheral nerve endings to cause immediate pain rather than the full-body neuromuscular incapacitation typical of a Taser.

According to an October 2024 U.S. Army study conducted at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, test participants playing the role of combative inmates stopped resisting seconds after receiving shocks. The report noted that test subjects were left with “fatigue, soreness and excessive apprehensiveness to being shocked again.”

The 38-page report — conducted by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Demonstration and Assessment Team — noted that the trial did not produce statistically relevant data to make predictions on efficacy, nor did it evaluate the device’s broader health or safety effects on humans.

The study concluded that “after experiencing the effects of the GLOVE … participants stated just seeing the GLOVE was enough to make them want to comply.”

Researchers observed that although the device did not significantly alter transport times during inmate escorts, it “increased the efficiency” of forced cell extractions and disturbance responses, and it reduced physical exertion for guards.

“GLOVE provides a boost in confidence to smaller or less trained members,” the Army study reported, adding that “inmate compliance was immediate.”

However, tests also showed that wet or oily skin intensified the shock, with one participant reporting discomfort lasting 30 minutes.

ICE leaders had access to the study before finalizing the purchase contract. The agency has defended the acquisition, framing the gloves as de-escalation tools that offer a safer alternative to lethal force when handling civil disturbances or subduing subjects during arrests and deportations.

But civil rights groups and lawmakers have raised concerns over potential misuse as the devices are integrated into federal immigration enforcement.

The procurement comes amid a broader expansion of authority for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations division. Internal government documents obtained by legal advocacy group Democracy Forward and shared with The Independent reveal that HSI has also been tasked with probing voter registration groups and targeting noncitizen voter allegations ahead of the midterms, using data supplied by right-wing activists and federal voter roll databases.

Advocates warn that giving expanding enforcement powers to the agency increases the potential for harm. Records obtained earlier this year by American Oversight revealed a nearly 400 percent spike in ICE use-of-force incidents during the first months of the second Trump administration, alongside record-high deaths in custody. According to American Oversight, ICE officers have shot and killed at least five people since last year, including two U.S. citizens.

“The military assessment in ICE’s own files shows that these gloves can cause ‘intense pain’ and force compliance. It does not establish that they are safe,” Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, said. “Everyone should be alarmed that ICE is preparing to deploy a tool designed to inflict, at best, intense pain, without showing that it is safe for the people who will be subjected to it.”

Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in August that the discreet nature of the device increased the risk of abuse.

“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.”

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada noted that ICE has failed to respond to an August 27 inquiry sent by 16 Democratic senators demanding details on deployment policies and safety protocols.

“Without ICE’s responses to legitimate questions from 16 United States senators, the American public is being left in the dark about how these electric-shock gloves are being deployed and what, if any, training the agents who use them have received,” Cortez Masto said.

Proponents of the technology maintain that the devices reduce injuries during physical confrontations. John Peters, president of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, said that the stimulus was designed to create a quick distraction.

“It’s immediate and sharp, and it will distract you,” Peters said. “I call it like a bee sting. For smaller officers or weaker officers or older officers, I think it has a great advantage.”

Compliant Technologies guidelines state the gloves require biannual recertification and prohibit use against high-risk populations, including pregnant women, children, the elderly or individuals displaying only verbal defiance.

The manufacturer has also faced legal challenges over the device’s use. A pending lawsuit in Kentucky alleges a 43-year-old man died in a county jail after officers shocked him 40 times using a combination of a Taser and the shock gloves.

White House border czar Tom Homan indicated that operational deployment may take time as ICE finishes training modules and administrative policies.

In a statement to the Associated Press, ICE stated that “officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics,” though the agency did not directly address the findings of the military study.

The Independent has contacted ICE for further comment.