ICE Plans $20M Electric Shock Glove Contract as Detained Kurdish Filmmaker Describes Force-Feeding

ICE is acquiring electric shock gloves and has been force-feeding a Kurdish detainee for eight months, raising detention treatment concerns.

A Kurdish filmmaker detained by ICE says he was shackled, pinned down, and force-fed through a tube inserted so forcefully it tore his nose — an ordeal he says lasted eight months and 'mentally broke' him. Gabar Choli, held at a detention facility in Texas, described the experience as inhumane, saying the physical and emotional scars from the coercive feeding remain with him. He had been on a hunger strike while in ICE custody. Separately, ICE is seeking to spend up to $20 million on electric shock gloves from a manufacturer whose own product documentation states the shock is 'usually effective in bringing individuals into compliance in less than three seconds.' The contract signals a potential expansion of the agency's use of pain-compliance tools against people in its custody. The two developments — one involving a specific detainee's account and the other a procurement plan — together paint a picture of ICE's approach to managing non-compliance among detained individuals. Choli's account was reported exclusively by The Guardian, which also obtained details of the glove procurement. Force-feeding of hunger strikers in immigration detention has a documented history in the United States, and courts have sometimes been asked to intervene.

Why it matters

These developments raise serious questions about the treatment of people held in immigration detention, a population with limited legal recourse. The scale of the glove contract — up to $20 million — suggests the agency plans broad deployment of a device designed to cause pain.

What's next

It is unclear from the sources whether Choli remains in detention or what legal challenges, if any, are ongoing regarding either the force-feeding practices or the shock glove contract.

Key facts

• ICE plans to spend up to $20 million on electric shock gloves capable of delivering pain-compliance shocks
• The glove manufacturer states its product brings individuals into compliance 'in less than three seconds'
• Kurdish filmmaker Gabar Choli says he was force-fed by ICE while detained in Texas for approximately eight months
• Choli says a feeding tube was inserted so forcefully it tore his nose
• Choli described the experience as mentally breaking him and leaving lasting physical and emotional scars
• All three sources are from The Guardian, which reported Choli's account as an exclusive

Bias & framing notes

All three sources are from a single outlet, The Guardian, which has a consistent editorial focus on civil liberties and immigration enforcement abuses. Choli's account is presented in vivid first-person detail with no response from ICE included, and no independent corroboration of the force-feeding specifics is noted. The glove procurement story relies on manufacturer documentation and the contract solicitation, which are verifiable government/industry records and thus more independently grounded than the personal testimony. No pro-ICE or government rebuttal is present in any of the three pieces.

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