U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has awarded a $16.7 million no-bid contract for 6,000 pairs of gloves capable of delivering painful electric shocks. The agency stated that these new use-of-force tools will be used by officers to control protesters and detainees who resist.
Democratic members of Congress and civil rights advocates have warned that ICE agents are unfit to use the equipment responsibly and cannot be trusted to deploy it appropriately. These groups highlighted that several people have been killed during ICE raids across the U.S. since President Trump's crackdown on immigration.
The Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, responded defiantly to the criticism. In a statement, the agency called the attempts by sanctuary politicians to ban the safety equipment despicable and described it as a deliberate effort to undermine and endanger officers.