US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has awarded a USD16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves capable of delivering electric shocks, drawing renewed criticism from human rights groups and Democratic lawmakers.
The purchase follows an announcement by the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month that ICE officers would begin using the devices. The plan comes as the immigration enforcement agency faces intense scrutiny over its increasingly aggressive raids and tactics under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
Several people have been killed in encounters involving ICE officers, immigrants and demonstrators since the administration intensified its immigration enforcement efforts. More than 50 people have also died in ICE custody, according to Reuters and US media reports cited in the supplied material.
The shock gloves are designed to look like ordinary patrol gloves, but contain an electric mode that officers can activate by pressing a button. Once activated, the gloves can deliver a painful electric shock to a person touched by the wearer.
Similar devices are already used by some US prisons and police departments. ICE said the gloves would be deployed in what it described as "high-tension environments," including arrests, the transportation of detainees and responses to civil disturbances outside detention facilities.
