ICE is buying 6,000 pairs of electric-shock gloves to subdue detainees and protesters, and the press is horrified — but those same outlets can't seem to match that outrage for cartel control of the southern border or the fentanyl killing Americans every day.
The real story isn't that enforcement tools cause pain. It's that the federal government ceded territory to transnational criminal organizations, and now that agents have a device that works, the media that ignored the collapse wants to disarm the people trying to fix it.
The gloves — branded G.L.O.V.E., for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter — are made by Compliant Technologies, a Kentucky-based firm owned by military veterans. ICE signed a $16.7 million contract in August, according to records obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight and shared with the Associated Press. An Army study at Fort Leavenworth in October 2024 — during the Biden administration's final months — found the devices stopped resisting subjects within seconds. Participants reported "fatigue, soreness and excessive apprehensiveness to being shocked again." Study authors wrote: "After experiencing the effects of the GLOVE... participants stated just seeing the GLOVE was enough to make them want to comply."
ICE calls the gloves "distraction and de-escalation devices" and says they're safer than lethal alternatives. In procurement documents, the agency wrote it "does not currently have an empty hand use of force device" amid "unprecedented levels of threats and violence against ICE officers and agents," CBS News reported. The Guardian framed the purchase as part of a "hardline anti-immigration crackdown" and omitted ICE's officer-safety justification entirely.
There are legitimate questions. A 43-year-old man died in a Kentucky county jail after allegedly being shocked 40 times with the gloves and a Taser combined; his widow is suing. The manufacturer warns the devices should not be used on children, pregnant women, or disabled people. The gloves leave no mark and are easy to discharge — a combination that invites abuse.
American Oversight executive director Chioma Chukwu said: "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."
Fair enough — safety matters. But both parties let the border collapse. The Biden White House was winding down when the Army conducted its study; before that, the first Trump term never secured the border either. That bipartisan failure is why ICE agents need these tools in the first place.
One detail both outlets reported but neither flagged: ICE's contract language says the gloves can be used against "protesters who create civil disturbances." That's a constitutional red flag. Non-lethal compliance tools pointed at cartels are one thing. The same tools turned on citizens exercising their First Amendment rights are another.
