The Trump administration wants to spend $220 million to arm immigration agents with about 17,800 new Tasers, a massive increase from the current 4,300 in the field.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to buy the Tasers and unlimited cartridges and to obtain training for the agents. The plan for a five-year contract is outlined in a federal government’s contracting database entry from Feb. 24.
It could be a major boon to Axon, the company that manufactures Tasers, which spent nearly $2.5 million last year lobbying Congress to buy its products for law enforcement, according to disclosure reports. That is the biggest sum the company has ever spent on lobbying efforts, according to OpenSecrets.
Axon is the only company that creates conductive energy weapons with the specifications ICE seeks. The company did not respond to questions about whether it planned to submit the information ICE requested from potential vendors by the March 13 deadline.
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The planned investment comes as Democrats in Congress are in negotiations with the White House to curb aggressive tactics by federal immigration agents.
“The devotion of vast resources to this mass detention and deportation agenda has created an immigration industrial complex, with astronomical increases in contracts that contribute to and profit from the suffering of other human beings,” Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff said in a statement to NOTUS.
Over the past year, ICE and CBP have committed to spending more than $144 million on weapons, ammunition and accessories, according to a review of federal contracts Schiff’s office published on Feb. 19. The Department of Homeland Security has already spent nearly $12 million on Tasers and supplies for ICE and CBP agents, according to federal government contracts.
“This misuse of taxpayer dollars to maximally arm federal immigration agents with questionable vetting and insufficient training must end,” he continued. “That’s why I won’t vote for another dime for ICE and CPB until we see real reforms and put an end to this excessive use of force.”
ICE framed the purchases as useful for de-escalation.
“This not only provides the agents/Officers a greater distance to try to de-escalate a hostile situation but also provides agents/officers of ICE more chances of successful probe connection,” a document attached as part of the contract notice states.
Diane Goldstein, the executive director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, which advocates for public safety solutions in policing, said she worries immigration agents won’t use Tasers in a de-escalating manner. She pointed to the ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers’ close-range use of chemical irritants against protesters.
“It can still be lethal if deployed improperly, and, even in the best circumstances, sending jolts of electricity into human bodies without knowing or understanding if there’s any underlying medical conditions is also risky,” Goldstein told NOTUS.
The document attached to the notice states that ICE is looking for the T10 Tasers that have 10-probe cartridges and can hit someone from up to 45 feet away.
Axon advertises this model on a sleek website with animations showing off its features resembling Apple’s product announcements.
The company has received $16.7 million in contracts from DHS during the second Trump administration, according to USASpending.gov. ICE spent $5 million in March on body cameras from the Arizona-based company, which saw $2.8 billion in revenue last year, a 33% increase, according to its quarterly report.
Axon’s CEO and founder, Patrick Smith, bills Tasers as lifesaving.
“Today, we estimate a Taser cartridge is fired in the field approximately every 30 seconds in the U.S.,” Smith told investors during a Feb. 24 earnings call. “In just the time I was speaking, another Taser cartridge has been fired. Every time a Taser device is used successfully, it has the potential to save a life.”
ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
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