August 28, 2026 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to immediately halt the planned purchase of electric shock gloves and demanded answers about the circumstances that led ICE to pursue the acquisition.

ICE Recruitment graphic

According to an August 10 DHS acquisition forecast, ICE intends to spend up to $20 million through a sole-source, no-bid contract with Compliant Technologies, the manufacturer of the devices. The weapons, known as G.L.O.V.E. (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitters), are hand-worn electrical devices that deliver a painful shock upon contact.

In their letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE Acting Director David J. Venturella, the Senators raised concerns about the safety of the devices, ICE’s record of excessive use of force, and the risks of outfitting untrained officers who operate with little to no accountability, with new weapons.

“The manufacturer’s user manual warns that these electric shock weapons can cause sudden death or serious injury, along with physiological changes that increase the risk of elevated blood pressure, changes in blood chemistry, increased respiration and heart rates, changes in heart rhythm, and elevated adrenaline. The longer the exposure, the higher the risk,” wrote the Senators. “The manufacturer recommends avoiding their use on the elderly, small children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities.”

The Senators warned that the gloves could be deployed more easily than conventional electrical control weapons because an officer only needs to make hand contact and press a switch. They argued that ICE’s existing use-of-force record, combined with fatal shootings of civilians and inadequate training and oversight, raises additional concerns about deploying an untested weapon.

They also raised concerns about accountability for ICE officers, citing comments from Compliant Technologies CEO Jeff Niklaus about the lack of visible injuries from the devices.

“That is not a safety feature, it is a liability shield. These devices are designed to leave no trace—an ‘invisible partner’ according to Compliant Technologies—even when the force is unjustified or violates the Fourth Amendment,” continued the Senators. “DHS is not procuring a less-lethal weapon. It is procuring a tool engineered to evade accountability.”

The Senators also pointed to the erosion of public trust in ICE, writing, “ICE is answerable to the American public whose trust in the agency has eroded: over half of Americans have little to no confidence in the agency and over half believe it uses excessive force.”

The Senators demanded that DHS and ICE halt the procurement, deployment, and use of the devices and, within 10 days, provide information about the justification and materials reviewed before the purchase, the devices’ operational need, the legal and factual basis for the sole-source contract, any potential ties between Compliant Technologies and Trump Administration officials, medical and safety reviews conducted before the procurement, and ICE’s use-of-force record since January 20, 2025.

Senator Padilla has been a leader against the harsh and cruel operations of ICE and CBP under the Trump Administration. Today, Padilla joined Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and 14 of their Senate colleagues in demanding the Trump Administration abandon its plan to equip ICE officers with the electric shock gloves. Their letter also demanded that if ICE proceeds with this purchase, it must first provide Congress with answers and documentation to over 30 questions about how these devices will be used, the protocol for using them, safety guardrails, and accountability measures. Earlier this month, Padilla called out the Trump Administration’s continued abuses of power through the carrying out of their violent mass deportation agenda and inhumane treatment of detained immigrants. In June, Padilla, pressed Mullin and Venturella on the staggering death toll at ICE detention centers. Padilla also condemned Republicans’ partisan bill to provide ICE and CBP with an extra $70 billion without necessary reforms and forced a vote on his amendment that would require ICE agents to wear body cameras while on-duty. In March, Padilla pressed former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem during a DHS oversight hearing on the Administration’s cruel mass deportation and detention campaign.

Full letter is available here and below:

Dear Secretary Mullin and Acting Director Venturella:

We write in regard to your plans to purchase electric shock weapons marketed as gloves for use in immigration enforcement actions. According to your August 10 announcement, you will pay the manufacturer of these weapons, known as the G.L.O.V.E. for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitters, up to $20 million through a sole-source, no-bid contract. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must provide urgent clarification on the scope of this acquisition, the justification for it, and a commitment to cease the procurement immediately.

For the past year and a half, Americans have watched federal immigration enforcement officers engage in the indiscriminate abuse of authority and excessive use of force to detain people they think may be immigrants, no matter their age, size, sex, or whether they pose any threat to officers. Agents seemingly use force as a default—not only when necessary—with tactics that include the use of high-risk neck restraints, knee-to-neck pins, chemical weapons, high-speed vehicle pursuits, and the tackling, shoving, and slamming of civilians. Meanwhile, DHS and ICE hired thousands of officers and deployed them to communities across the country without the proper vetting or training. The consequences have been fatal—the killings of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine, and Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis stand as stark reminders. It is under these circumstances that DHS and ICE plan to outfit officers with electrical devices on their hands, turning any physical contact into an electric shock. They are, in effect, hand-worn tasers disguised as restraint equipment.

Compliant Technologies does not “consider” G.L.O.V.E. devices to be weapons and markets them as safer than Tasers or stun guns. DHS has defended the purchase of these weapons on that basis. While true that G.L.O.V.E. weapons have a lower voltage output than other electrical current weapons (ECW), we are unaware of any independent evidence or studies that they are safer. Indeed, the manufacturer’s user manual warns that these electric shock weapons can cause sudden death or serious injury, along with physiological changes that increase the risk of elevated blood pressure, changes in blood chemistry, increased respiration and heart rates, changes in heart rhythm, and elevated adrenaline. The longer the exposure, the higher the risk. The manufacturer recommends avoiding their use on the elderly, small children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities. In sum, lower voltage does not mean lower risk. Moreover, because electric shock gloves are easier and faster to use—an officer only has to make hand contact and press a switch, as opposed to unholstering an electronic control weapon, aiming it, and discharging probes—officers may deploy them in situations where they would not have used a less-lethal weapon at all.

Where force is not justified, officers will escape liability. Compliant Technologies’ CEO Jeff Niklaus has made this explicit: “with a glove there are no burn marks or scars when it’s done” and because there is no visible injury, “it doesn’t really pay off” for people to sue officers. That is not a safety feature, it is a liability shield. These devices are designed to leave no trace—an “invisible partner” according to Compliant Technologies—even when the force is unjustified or violates the Fourth Amendment. DHS is not procuring a less-lethal weapon. It is procuring a tool engineered to evade accountability.

No federal law enforcement agency should deploy a novel, untested electric shock device without independent medical and safety review. Law enforcement best practices demand that electric shock devices including G.L.O.V.E. weapons “be used only by trained personnel and only to overcome active resistance, its threat, or assaultive behavior or a threat of bodily harm to officers or others.” Most ICE arrests meet none of these conditions. Since January 2025, ICE has conducted expansive, unsupervised immigration enforcement in public spaces—traffic stops, workplaces, homes—with minimal oversight. Electric shock gloves would become an untested pain compliance weapon in the hands of officers operating with broad discretion, inadequate training, and minimal, if any, accountability.

ICE’s record of lethal and less-lethal force should trigger an immediate moratorium on new force tools, not approval of them. Before DHS considers acquiring and deploying G.L.O.V.E. weapons, it must conduct a full accounting of ICE’s current use-of-force practices and the deaths that have resulted. Additionally, it must explain to taxpayers why these devices are necessary and justify its pattern of awarding multimillion-dollar contracts without competitive procurement review.

ICE is answerable to the American public whose trust in the agency has eroded: over half of Americans have little to no confidence in the agency and over half believe it uses excessive force. To that end, DHS and ICE must immediately halt the procurement, deployment, and use of electrical shock G.L.O.V.E. weapons, and provide the following no later than 10 days from the date of this letter:

1. All documents and communications reflecting the justification for this procurement, all documents and materials reviewed by DHS prior to the contract, including manuals, safety guidelines, training materials and protocols, or consultations with experts or training instructors, and the identity and title of every official who participated in or approved the acquisition decision.
2. All documents and communications discussing the specific operational need these devices are intended to address, including examples of incidents in which officers were unable to arrest or detain an individual using other available less-lethal weapons or tactics.
3. The legal and factual basis for awarding a sole-source, no-bid contract to Compliant Technologies, including the statutory authority cited and any market research conducted prior to award.
4. All documents and communications reflecting any personal or business association between Compliant Technologies, its principals, or its investors and any official of the Trump Administration, including any financial relationship, prior employment, or role in facilitating this procurement.
5. All documents reflecting any medical, safety, or use-of-force review—whether internal or independent—conducted prior to this procurement, including any risk assessment addressing the potential for death or serious injury.
6. The total number of use-of-force incidents involving ICE officers since January 20, 2025, disaggregated by type of force used, and for each incident: whether injury or death resulted, the employment status of the officer involved, and whether the incident triggered an internal review or disciplinary action.

Your prompt attention to this request is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Source: Senator Alex Padilla