Army Study Found Shock Gloves Purchased by ICE Cause Pain and Fear

Shock gloves that immigration agents may soon use to control detainees and protesters proved to be powerfully effective during a military exercise, causing participants intense pain, immediate cessation of resistance, and fear of further exposure, according to a previously unreleased Army study. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) leaders were aware of these findings before signing a $16.7 million contract in August to purchase 6,000 pairs of the gloves, records obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight and shared with The Associated Press show.

The exercise, conducted in October 2024 at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, involved Army employees role-playing combative prisoners. According to the study, these participants, including several large-statured men, stopped resisting within seconds of being touched by the gloves. They were left with "fatigue, soreness and excessive apprehensiveness to being shocked again."

"After experiencing the effects of the GLOVE, ... participants stated just seeing the GLOVE was enough to make them want to comply," the study authors wrote. The devices are intended to work by overloading the skin's peripheral nerve endings to cause pain, rather than freezing the body like a Taser. Participants who were wet or had oil on their skin reported even more powerful shocks, with one experiencing discomfort for 30 minutes afterward.

ICE has characterized the gloves as "distraction and de-escalation devices," arguing they are safer than other non-lethal options for subduing individuals during arrests, deportations, or civil disturbances. The agency asserts that the rapid compliance achieved with the gloves will enhance officer safety and reduce the need for potentially lethal force.

However, critics have raised concerns that the gloves will provide ICE with another tool for intimidation and abuse, particularly as the agency faces scrutiny over past excessive force incidents. Critics point out that the gloves are easily discharged, do not leave visible marks, and have limited use outside of correctional settings. The manufacturer's own warnings state the gloves should not be used on high-risk populations, including children, pregnant women, or disabled individuals.

"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," said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight. "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."

The military prison study assessed the gloves' effectiveness in scenarios such as forcibly removing combative prisoners from cells, responding to disturbances in common areas, and transporting uncooperative inmates. The study concluded that the devices "increased the efficiency" of teams performing forced cell extractions and responding to disturbances by shortening physical encounters, reducing guard exhaustion, and preventing injuries. While they did not significantly alter the time required for inmate escorts, they demanded less effort.

ICE's contract with the manufacturer, Compliant Technologies LLC, mandates glove delivery within six months. White House border czar Tom Homan has indicated that the gloves might not be deployed for some time due to ongoing training and policy development. ICE has not responded to requests for comment regarding the study and the rollout status.

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada stated that ICE has not responded to a letter from her and 15 other Democratic senators, sent on August 27, which called for the agency to abandon its plan to purchase the gloves or provide a detailed explanation of their intended use and management to prevent abuse. She expressed a continued demand for answers, noting that "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."