In a move that screams 'we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas,' Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is looking to drop up to $20 million on electrified gloves designed to zap people into compliance. The plan, outlined in a Department of Homeland Security notice on Monday, aims to equip officers with an unspecified number of these devices by March 2027.

The glove in question is the CTG 5 GLOVE (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter), which manufacturer Compliant Technologies markets as a CD3 (Conductive Distraction and De-escalation) device. According to the company, it's 'a great, humane, low-optics, de-escalation solution' that typically gets people to cooperate in under three seconds. Because nothing says 'humane' like a 380-volt jolt to the skin, which is closer to a dog's shock collar than a taser. The glove's user guide notes it 'inhibits/distracts the subject from performing coordinated muscle movement' and includes helpful warnings like: don't use more than one pair on a person, don't shock anyone for over 15 seconds, and avoid using it on children, the elderly, pregnant women, or disabled people. You know, the usual caveats for a 'peacekeeping' tool.

Compliant Technologies bills the glove as an 'invisible partner' that enhances 'established tactics, techniques and procedures,' calling it 'The New Protocol in Peace Keeping.' It's already been used by some police departments and jails, with two corrections officers charged in 2022 for beating and shocking an inmate in separate attacks. But hey, who's counting?

This comes as ICE has been flexing its muscles with little oversight, showing up at people's doors, using mass surveillance, and even killing people in broad daylight. Now they'll have a shiny new way to hurt folks. The DHS didn't immediately comment, but the ACLU's Jenn Rolnick Borchetta had some thoughts: 'ICE spent the last year showing this country they are too quick to use force. Now they will be able to deploy electric shocks with the slight push of a button that maybe nobody else can see them do. Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public.' Indeed.