Ban Electric-Shock Gloves for Federal Immigration Officers

As a constituent, I am asking you to stop funding an immigration enforcement system in which people have been killed by federal agents, dozens have died in custody, and serious questions about deadly force and accountability remain unanswered. People are dying during the federal government’s expanded immigration crackdown. Congress should withdraw extraordinary enforcement funds, impose safeguards, and require accountability before more people are harmed. DEADLY CONSEQUENCES Since President Trump returned to office, on-duty federal immigration agents have shot and killed at least seven people. Two recent deaths occurred only six days apart: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine. Neither man was the person federal agents had gone there to arrest. The danger does not end on the streets. Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights documented 52 deaths in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody during the first 500 days of this administration. CONGRESS FUNDED THE EXPANSION The 2025 reconciliation law provided approximately $191 billion in supplemental funding to the Department of Homeland Security, including about $74.9 billion for ICE and $64.7 billion for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). ICE now plans to spend $10 million to $20 million of its available funding on thousands of electric-shock gloves that deliver painful shocks through direct skin contact. Congress should not permit these devices to become part of civil immigration enforcement. Congress is not powerless. It controls these appropriations and has both the power and responsibility to act. CONGRESS CAN STOP IT Whatever one’s views on immigration, federal officers must be accountable when people are killed or seriously injured. Congress supplied the money that made this expansion possible, and Congress can change course. Please use your power over federal spending and oversight to prevent further deaths and abuses and restore meaningful accountability. I urge you to take these actions: (1) RECLAIM FUNDS. Support legislation or appropriations provisions rescinding unobligated funds for expanded ICE and CBP detention and enforcement under the 2025 reconciliation law and the Secure America Act. (2) STOP EXPANSION. Oppose additional funding for expanded detention, large-scale raids, or enforcement operations unless Congress first imposes enforceable safeguards and transparency requirements. (3) BAN SHOCK GLOVES. Prohibit ICE from acquiring or using electric-shock gloves and bar federal funds from being used for their purchase, deployment, or training. (4) REQUIRE OVERSIGHT. Support independent investigations of deaths and serious injuries, congressional hearings, public reporting, and strong body-camera requirements. (5) INVEST IN PEOPLE. Use future appropriations to prioritize health care, nutrition assistance, affordable housing, and other urgent needs facing American families. Thank you.