Ban the electric shock gloves that Department of Homeland Security wants to give to ICE agents

Law enforcement officers look out from a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility Oct. 21, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

By Bridget Smith

We as Alaskans have a belief in human decency and in not causing pain to others. And yet recently, our own United States government announced that the Department of Homeland Security plans to purchase electric shock gloves for ICE agents for $20 million. According to Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat, who researches fascism and authoritarianism, the announcement of this purchase was timed precisely. She has written that this was a very clear message to everyone, not just immigrants, not just protesters, but also to voters. She believes, as do I, that the announcement was designed to intimidate voters as we approach the midterms. Using electric shock to subdue the population is a common authoritarian strategy. 

The electric shock gloves are an instrument of torture. Their purpose is to cause pain in order to achieve compliance. Although equipping ICE agents with these gloves for $20 million is a diabolical plan, what is even more evil is that they look like ordinary gloves. And not only that, the electric shock, up to 380 volts, shoots painfully throughout the body leaving no evidence, leading to the victim collapsing in pain. The administration of the shock leaves no trace that a person has been subjected to something so terrible that it may, according to their manufacturer, “cause or contribute to death or serious injury.” Not only that, but the company manual provided by Compliant Technologies of Kentucky also warns against using these gloves on “small children, pregnant women, or the elderly.” Does this concern you? It certainly concerns me.

So the effects of these gloves, which are lethal weapons, are silent, invisible, and deadly. And the United States government plans to give them to ICE agents who have shown little to no restraint when it comes to people who have resisted their efforts, immigrants and concerned citizens alike. ICE agents, who have killed a number of people (will we ever know the real number?) and wounded countless others, are scheduled to receive electric shock gloves despite having had little training (an average of 47 days) as well as demonstrating over and over that they are not, as an organization, responsible law enforcement.

This, of course, is a human rights abuse, and must be protested loudly by everyone. This is not an issue that has “sides.” Electric shock gloves have no place on our streets, in our schools, in our homes, in our hospitals, near our voting polls, in our courts, in our libraries, in our government buildings, nor in any space in our country. Their use is antithetical to our values as Americans, our belief in human dignity, and our belief in treating others as we ourselves would like to be treated. These instruments of torture violate due process, as well as everyone’s civil rights.

I call on our leaders to loudly denounce the use of these gloves, and I call on the people of Alaska to ban their use in this state. This is not a partisan issue. This is a human issue. To intentionally cause pain to another human being is sadistic and despicable. Do not allow this.

• Bridget Smith is a Juneau resident.