The Glove, short for Generated Low-Output Voltage Emitter, is manufactured in Lexington, Kentucky, by Compliant Technologies. The company markets it as allowing officers to go “hands-on” with detainees while maintaining control at close quarters.

The Department of Homeland Security has announced plans to purchase between $10 million and $20 million worth of the devices through its acquisitions portal.

The gloves are operated by a switch and can deliver a maximum current of 1.2 amps, with pulses lasting 115 microseconds and repeated 30 times a second. They must make direct contact with the skin and are ineffective through clothing or hair, according to the product manual.

The manufacturer claims the device “does not directly effect [sic] cardiac rhythms” and “has been used on individuals with pacemakers and internal defibrillators without interference”.

However, the manual warns: “Any use of force, including CD3 [Conductive Distraction and De-escalation Device] deployment, may cause or contribute to death or serious injury. Follow your agency’s guidance and policies when dealing with medically compromised persons.”

It also states that the device can be less effective on people or animals with very thick hair.

The proposed purchase comes as ICE arrests have risen sharply under President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Monthly arrests reached a record 51,000 in July, while the administration has set a target of 2,000 arrests a day.

At least 52 people have died in ICE detention since Mr Trump returned to the White House, according to Human Rights Watch.

The planned use of the gloves has prompted criticism from civil liberties groups, amid wider concerns about the use of force by immigration officers.

Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union, said: “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.”

She added: “Introducing gloves that can so easily be used to deliver terrible pain in encounters is a recipe for harm to the public.”