Authored by Kimberly Hayek via The Epoch Times,
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has awarded a $16.7 million contract to purchase 6,000 pairs of gloves that can deliver electric shocks. Officers would use them to control resisting detainees and protesters, according to a federal notice published Thursday.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Feb. 17, 2026. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)The no-bid deal went to Compliant Technologies LLC, a Kentucky firm that manufactures the devices, and covers the gloves plus support equipment and services over the next six months.
ICE moved forward with the purchase despite ongoing objections from civil rights advocates and Democratic senators. They said the agency already draws criticism for use of force with unclear oversight.
Hours before the notice appeared, a group of senators led by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) wrote to ICE's acting director, urging the agency to abandon the plan. Fifteen colleagues from the Democratic caucus signed on.
"The blatant and tragic misuse of force in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston, Maine, and other locations around the country raises significant skepticism about the agency's professional capability to safely deploy a new tool that could be used to harm Americans without cause," the letter said.
The Department of Homeland Security, ICE's p
