{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-wants-ice-to-cancel-20m-shock-glove-order-that-is-shockingly-wasteful-and-ripe-for-abuse", "Reed Wants ICE to Cancel $20M \u2018Shock Glove\u2019 Order That is \u2018Shockingly Wasteful & Ripe for Abuse\u2019", "2026-08-27", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", "jackreed", "https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases", "scraper", "PROVIDENCE, RI \u2013 Noting that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have deployed violence and deadly force against innocent Americans with no accountability, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) strongly opposes the agency\u2019s decision to reportedly spend $20 million dollars on \u201cshock gloves\u201d to outfit agents with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks. Reed is teaming up with 15 Senate colleagues to urge ICE to cancel the contract, and questioning the agency\u2019s ability to use them appropriately. Before ICE proceeds with this purchase, the 16 Senators want answers and documentation for over 30 specific questions about how these devices will be used, the protocol for using them, safety guardrails, and accountability measures.\n\nSenator Reed says Americans want real changes at ICE, but Congressional Republicans are instead insulating ICE from accountability and wasting billions of tax dollars that could be better spent lowering prices, strengthening the economy, and improving public safety.\n\n\u201cHere we go again with another no-bid contract on equipment that ICE doesn\u2019t need and is ill-suited to handle responsibly. What ICE needs is better vetting and training of its agents. Every ICE agent needs to be equipped with a body camera, and they need to be appropriately held accountable for their actions, just like every other law enforcement officer. These so-called shock gloves would not have prevented a single one of the unjust shootings by ICE officers that Americans witnessed due to video taken by bystanders. Congressional Republicans have gifted ICE a $120-plus billion slush fund with little to no accountability. There are better ways to improve public safety than equipping poorly-trained, masked agents with no ID and no accountability with electro-shock gloves and sending them into communities with a greenlight to grab people without a warrant,\u201d said Reed.\n\nInstead of working to lower costs, Congressional Republicans have allocated a roughly $120 billion windfall to ICE via party-line reconciliation legislation, which falls outside the regular appropriations process and does not require the same level of Congressional oversight and reporting requirements. Indeed, ICE spent hundreds of millions on planes and warehouses it now deems unnecessary.\n\nThis massive influx of funding far exceeds ICE\u2019s normal annual operating budget of about $10 billion. In fact, ICE funding levels under Trump surpass the combined annual appropriations requested for major federal entities like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the U.S. Marshals Service.\n\nAccording to Time magazine: \u201cDocuments produced by two DHS whistleblowers in February showed that ICE had significantly scaled up its hiring while axing several screening and training protocols for officers.\u201d\n\n\u201cICE has a massive amount of cash, but that is no excuse for irresponsible spending. Every tax dollar ICE has should be allocated effectively and transparently in a way that actually keeps communities safe. But instead of evidence-based uses and genuinely focusing on de-escalation, the Trump Administration wants to simply equip the same under-trained and under-vetted forces with electroshock gloves. That is a recipe for more of the abusive tactics we\u2019ve already seen from ICE. Americans want accountable law enforcement that is genuinely focused on public safety and upholding and abiding by the law,\u201d said Reed.\n\nIn their letter to ICE, Reed and his colleagues wrote: \u201cThe 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\u2019s professional capability to safely deploy a new tool that could be used to harm Americans without cause. Therefore, we urge ICE to cancel the contract and reconsider the purchase.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe proposed acquisition raises serious questions about necessity, proportionality, medical safety, training, accountability, and constitutional rights,\u201d the 16 U.S. Senators continued. \u201cThose questions are particularly important given the significant public scrutiny surrounding ICE\u2019s excessive use of force. A device capable of delivering an electrical shock through direct contact with an individual presents substantial risks if deployed during civil arrests \u2013 even more so if it is deployed without clear limits, appropriate training, and comprehensive oversight.\u201d\n\nThe letter was led by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). In addition to Reed, the letter was also signed by U.S. Senators Angus King (I-ME), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Peter Welch (D-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ben Ray Luj\u00e1n (D-NM), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).\n\nReed points out that, when used correctly by well-trained police officers, the shock gloves could have legitimate law enforcement uses and serve as a tool for deescalation. But recent history strongly indicates Trump\u2019s ICE agents will misuse these shock devices to increase aggressive confrontations rather than de-escalate them. Under the Trump Administration, ICE has operated without accountability and repeatedly engaged in violence against Americans and innocent people and then tried to cover it up or sweep it under the rug. And even when the head of DHS temporarily paused ICE vehicle and traffic stops following suspect fatal shootings in Texas and Maine, President Trump overruled the order.\n\nAt a time when Americans are struggling with high prices due directly to President Trump\u2019s irresponsible, chaotic tariff tax trade wars and war in Iran, Senator Reed says there are better ways to spend tax dollars than on shock gloves for overfunded ICE.\n\nReed offered an amendment to take $62 billion from ICE and DHS \u2013 less than half of their windfall slush fund \u2013 and put it toward the production and rehabilitation of over 2 million units of affordable housing nationwide.\n\n\u201cThe federal government should make people\u2019s lives better and their communities safer. I don\u2019t think these shock gloves are a smart investment, I think it\u2019s a foolish waste and the contract should be cancelled. When Democrats take back control of Congress and finally conduct an overdue oversight and financial auditing of the Trump Administration\u2019s expenditures, taxpayers will be shocked to learn just how much waste and abuse is occurring at DHS under the Trump Administration,\u201d concluded Reed.\n\nFull text of the letter follows:\n\nDear Acting Director Venturella,\n\nWe write to express deep concern about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to spend up to $20 million on gloves that deliver electric shocks. Over the past year, ICE personnel have been involved in numerous well-documented incidents of excessive force and civil rights violations. These incidents have shown the American people that ICE personnel are not adequately trained or accountable for their interactions with civilians. 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\u2019s professional capability to safely deploy a new tool that could be used to harm Americans without cause. Therefore, we urge ICE to cancel the contract and reconsider the purchase.\n\nOn August 10, 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice concerning ICE\u2019s planned acquisition of the CTG-5 G.L.O.V.E., a glove designed to deliver a painful electric shock that is described as a \u201cConductive Distraction and De-escalation Device,\u201d for use by both Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). The notice estimates the potential value of the acquisition between $10 million and $20 million. Congress has an obligation to ensure that federal law enforcement agencies have the resources necessary to perform their duties safely and effectively while ensuring that taxpayer dollars are being used for tools that are necessary, proportionate, and subject to meaningful safeguards. The proposed acquisition raises serious questions about necessity, proportionality, medical safety, training, accountability, and constitutional rights. Those questions are particularly important given the significant public scrutiny surrounding ICE\u2019s excessive use of force. A device capable of delivering an electrical shock through direct contact with an individual presents substantial risks if deployed during civil arrests \u2013 even more so if it is deployed without clear limits, appropriate training, and comprehensive oversight.\n\nICE personnel have access to pepper spray, Tasers, batons, and restraint techniques, not to mention deescalation strategies that are widely used by law enforcement throughout the country. At a time when the American people have demanded de-escalation in immigration enforcement, it is not clear why existing tools and tactics are insufficient for the agency. In the past year, DHS has repeatedly spent millions of taxpayer dollars on purchases it ends up not using, including $464 million for airplanes, $700 million on warehouses, and more than $2.25 million for SUVs wrapped with ICE branding. Many of these ICE transactions, including the planned electric shock glove purchase, are completed through no-bid contracts that circumvent the normal competitive procurement process without a sufficient rationale. This history raises concerns about wasteful spending and unethical contracting practices that could benefit individuals who have personal relationships with administration officials rather than those who can provide the best service at the lowest cost to the taxpayer.\n\nIf ICE proceeds with purchasing $20 million worth of electric-shock gloves, Congress needs a clear understanding of the device\u2019s safety and authorized uses. The manufacturer identifies restrictions on the device\u2019s use, including limitations involving children, pregnant women, elderly or disabled individuals, and repeated or simultaneous use. The manufacturer also warns that use of the electric-shock glove may cause or contribute to death or serious injury, and that longer exposure increases that potential risk. If it proceeds with this contract, ICE must establish and make public clear, enforceable limits on when and against whom the electric-shock gloves may be used, especially given that ICE may not be able to immediately assess whether an individual is pregnant or disabled. Given that ICE is most frequently engaged in civil immigration enforcement rather than criminal arrests, the agency must carefully evaluate whether deployment of the electric-shock gloves in such situations is proportionate to the task.\n\nICE must also establish and make public the training requirements the agency will put in place prior to and throughout any potential deployment of these gloves. Over the past year, ICE has undermined the public\u2019s trust in the agency\u2019s training standards by putting new personnel into operational situations who are not properly vetted or adequately trained. Training for ICE recruits was slashed before being extended again following significant backlash. Additionally, ICE has put new recruits in the field before even completing their background checks, with tragic consequences. The issuance of these electric-shock gloves to personnel in the field without sufficient training would be yet another failure of ICE in the eyes of the public.\n\nICE has continually failed to meet basic standards of transparency and accountability. The electric-shock gloves present a particular accountability challenge because the use of force may cause significant pain and internal injury without necessarily producing obvious visible injuries. If the electric-shock gloves are deployed, ICE must establish a robust system for documenting and reviewing every deployment and instance of use. ICE should not deploy the gloves without evidence that personnel understand and take seriously the device\u2019s risks and that individuals subjected to its use can receive an appropriate medical response. ICE must also ensure robust internal procedures for investigating misuse of the device and all use-of-force tools provided to personnel, and effective consequences for those who are found to have abused them.\n\nIn light of these many concerns, we request answers to the following questions and production of the documents identified below.\n\nNecessity, Procurement, and Alternatives\n\n1. What specific operational capability does the G.L.O.V.E. provide that existing ICE defensive tactics and less-lethal tools\u2014including pepper spray, Tasers, batons, and restraint techniques\u2014do not? Please provide the operational analysis or other documentation supporting the acquisition.\n\n2. How many electric-shock gloves does ICE intend to purchase, at what projected per-unit cost? How many personnel will be issued the device?\n\n3. What alternatives did ICE consider before selecting the G.L.O.V.E.?\n\n4. Did ICE consult with other law enforcement agencies that use the device regarding effectiveness, injuries, complaints, misuse, training requirements, or other concerns?\n\n5. Please provide the justification for the purchase of the G.L.O.V.E. via a non-competitive contract process.\n\nSafety and Appropriate Use\n\n6. How does ICE classify the G.L.O.V.E. under DHS Use of Force Policy 044-05? Are the electric-shock gloves considered a de-escalation tactic under this policy?\n\n7. In what specific circumstances will use of the electric-shock gloves be authorized?\n\n8. Will use of the electric-shock gloves require supervisory authorization?\n\n9. Which positions and units will carry the device?\n\n10. What is the protocol for usage of the electric-shock gloves? Will ICE personnel be instructed to issue a warning before gloves are activated?\n\n11. Will ICE expressly prohibit use of the electric-shock gloves as a routine compliance or punishment tool?\n\n12. What restrictions will apply to vulnerable populations?\n\n13. Will ICE prohibit the use of the electric-shock gloves against animals?\n\n14. Will ICE prohibit the use of the electric-shock gloves in crowd-control situations?\n\n15. What restrictions will govern the duration and repetition of electrical shocks?\n\n16. Will the electric-shock gloves be authorized for use against U.S. citizens?\n\n17. Will the electric-shock gloves be authorized for use in custodial settings? Will they be authorized for use in removal operations?\n\n18. How will protocol for use differ between HSI and ERO?\n\nTesting, Medical Safety, and Training\n\n19. What testing has DHS or ICE conducted or reviewed concerning the safety and effectiveness of the electric-shock gloves? Please provide all manufacturer testing, independent testing, medical evaluations, risk assessments, and other relevant documentation.\n\n20. Will ICE conduct a limited pilot program before broad deployment? If so, provide the parameters, location, duration, and evaluation criteria for the pilot.\n\n21. What medical contraindications or risks has ICE identified related to use of the electric shock gloves?\n\n22. What training will be required before an officer or agent may carry or use the electric shock gloves? Please provide all existing and proposed training and written guidance concerning the G.L.O.V.E., including curricula, lesson plans, instructor materials, certification standards, policy directives, field guidance, and manufacturer training materials.\n\n23. Will ICE require recurring certification and refresher training? Please provide the certification requirements, frequency of recertification, proficiency standards, and consequences for personnel who fail to maintain certification.\n\nAccountability, Reporting, and Oversight\n\n24. What is the required response when a person is injured or appears to be in medical distress following use of the electric-shock gloves? Please provide the applicable medical response protocols, including requirements for medical evaluation, documentation, notification of supervisors, and preservation of evidence.\n\n25. Will every activation or use of the electric-shock gloves against a person be reported as a use of force?\n\n26. Will ICE require body-worn cameras to be activated and operational whenever the electric-shock gloves are deployed, regardless of whether the officers are in plainclothes?\n\n27. Will every activation require written justification and supervisory review? Please identify who will review these incidents, what factors supervisors must consider, and what specific consequences will apply when personnel violate the applicable restrictions.\n\n28. How will ICE track complaints and injuries? Will ICE maintain and publicly report data concerning internal and external complaints, injuries, improper uses, disciplinary actions, and uses of force involving the electric-shock gloves?\n\n29. How will ICE evaluate, track, and report complaints of civil rights violations involving the use of the electric-shock gloves?\n\n30. Will ICE conduct an independent audit of the program?\n\n31. Please provide records reflecting any internal concerns or objections regarding the electric-shock gloves, including communications involving the Office of Tactical Programs and Firearms.\n\nWe request that ICE provide written responses to the questions above and produce the requested documents no later than September 10, 2026. The American people have made it clear that ICE must de-escalate its immigration enforcement operations. ICE must refrain from deployment of the G.L.O.V.E. and instead invest in de-escalation tools, training, and accountability. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.\n\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-08-28T17:11:49Z", "2026-08-28T17:13:14Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-wants-ice-to-cancel-20m-shock-glove-order-that-is-shockingly-wasteful-and-ripe-for-abuse"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 3.991527948528528, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}