BARDSTOWN, KY. — White House border czar Tom Homan defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to provide officers with gloves that deliver electric shocks. The Trump administration plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of "conductive distraction and de-escalation devices" for ICE officers and agents.

Homan made the remarks Thursday in an interview on "Fox & Friends." He described the gloves as a tool to help officers end confrontations without using deadly force. "You can’t just go from 0 to 100, right, and the first thing you go for is lethal force," Homan said. "It’s another device to help someone get compliant when they are not," he added.

The devices are known as G.L.O.V.E. which stands for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. They are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC and have been used in recent years by some jails and police departments. Homan said the gloves would provide another less lethal option for ICE officers, similar to Tasers or pepper spray, for use in potentially violent situations on the streets and in detention facilities.

Nelson County Jailer Justin Hall said his agency began using the gloves four years ago to try to gain compliance when inmates are out of control. Hall estimated that he had been shocked by the gloves more than 10 times during training. He said the pain from the gloves is intense but stops once the gloves are no longer touching skin. Unlike Tasers, the shocks from the gloves do not incapacitate people, make them fall, or leave contact or burn marks.

It’s just a safer way. It’s safer on the inmate. And most of the time, most of the time we get compliance, Hall said.

"It’s been a great tool for our facility," he added. He said the shock gloves have been used sparingly at his facility.

Civil rights groups, Democrats in Congress, and some use-of-force experts have criticized the plan. At least six people have been shot and killed by immigration enforcement agents since last year. Immigration enforcement agents shot and killed motorists last month in Maine and Texas.

Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina, said the devices should be studied more broadly to ensure departments have proper guidance on when and how they should be used. Alpert said it might be a wiser investment for ICE to start with a smaller purchase, given how little is known about the devices. "You are wholesaling these to a group of officers who may not be trained in other strategies like de-escalation or trained to interact with the public in non-enforcement ways, like most local police officers are," Alpert said.

"User error is almost predictable at some level. The tech may be fine, but let’s take a minute and make sure that it is used in an appropriate custom and practice," he added. He said it would "be awhile" before the gloves are deployed in the field by ICE officers because the agency is still working out training protocols and other policy issues.

Why It Matters

The procurement represents a shift in equipment for federal immigration agents, moving from no electric shock devices to a potential inventory of thousands. The plan arises with criticism of recent use of force, including fatal shootings in Maine and Texas last month and at least six deaths since last year. Proponents argue the gloves offer a middle ground between verbal commands and lethal force, while critics question the readiness of agents to use new technology safely.

Timeline

On August 13, 2026, White House border czar Tom Homan defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plan to provide officers with gloves that deliver electric shocks. Homan made the remarks Thursday in an interview on "Fox & Friends." He described the gloves as a tool to help officers end confrontations without using deadly force. "You can’t just go from 0 to 100, right, and the first thing you go for is lethal force," he said.

He said the gloves would provide another less lethal option for ICE officers, similar to Tasers or pepper spray, for use in potentially violent situations on the streets and in detention facilities. He said it would "be awhile" before the gloves are deployed in the field by ICE officers because the agency is still working out training protocols and other policy issues. Also on August 13, 2026, Nelson County Jailer he said his agency began using the gloves four years ago to try to gain compliance when inmates are out of control. He said the pain from the gloves is intense but stops once the gloves are no longer touching skin.

What's New

Later reporting identified that Tom Homan previously served as the director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from 2019 to 2021 under the Trump administration, where he oversaw policies related to immigration enforcement and detention. Additional context noted that Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina, has previously advised the National Institute of Justice on police use-of-force protocols, including a 2018 study on non-lethal technology efficacy. PureSource News previously reported that ICE sends body cameras to half of field officers.

Background information confirms Tom Homan is an American law enforcement officer and immigration official born in 1961. Fox News Channel is an American cable television news channel.