Findings from an AP investigation into ICE’s use of full-body restraint devices, known as WRAP

The full-body restraint device known as WRAP has become a painful part of deportation for some immigrants.

The Associated Press identified several instances of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers using black and yellow full-body restraint devices on deportation flights.

Here are the findings of the AP investigation:

What is rap?

WRAP first appeared in law enforcement in the late 1990s, presented as an alternative to tying a subject’s hands and feet together in a practice known as “hog-tying” and was a long-awaited solution to restraining the most unruly prisoners and avoiding in-custody deaths due to handcuffing and positional asphyxiation, partly due to a detainee being able to remain prone. Was preventing from.

It first found widespread use in California It is used in prisons and today by more than 1,800 departments and facilities across the country, according to the manufacturer, which says it has sold more than 10,000 devices.

Charles Hammond, CEO of Safe Restraints Inc., maker of WRAP, said his company has created a modified version of the device for ICE, with changes intended to allow people to remain in it during flights and long bus trips.

ICE’s version includes a ring on the front of the suit that allows a person’s cuffed hands to be attached, he said, while still allowing limited access for eating and drinking. Additionally, the ICE version has “soft elbow cuffs,” Hammond said, which attach to the back so a person can move forward for proper circulation but can’t jut the elbow out to hit someone.

ICE’s parent agency, the US Department of Homeland Security, acquired Safe Restraints Inc. has paid $268,523 since it began purchasing the equipment in late 2015. Obama Administration. Government procurement records show both trump Administration is responsible for about 91% of that expenditure. ICE would not provide AP with records documenting the use of WRAP despite multiple requests, and it is unclear how often it has been used in the current and prior administrations.

What did AP’s investigation find?

The AP was briefed on the use of WRAP by five people who said they were held in the device on ICE deportation flights throughout 2020, sometimes for hours. And witnesses and family members in four countries told the AP about its use on at least seven other people this year.

The AP found that ICE has used the device despite internal concerns expressed in a 2023 report by DHS’s civil rights division, due to reports of deaths linked to the use of WRAP by local law enforcement. And the AP has identified a dozen fatal cases over the past decade where local police or jailers across the U.S. used WRAP and autopsies determined that “restraint” played a role in the death.

WRAP is the subject of a growing number of federal lawsuits that have likened the misuse of the device to punishment and even torture, whether used in prison or by immigration officials during international flights. Among advocates’ concerns is that ICE is not tracking the use of WRAP as required by federal law when officers use force, making it difficult to track how many people are being interdicted.

The creator of WRAP says its intention was for the device to be a lifesaver for law enforcement encountering unruly people who were physically attacking officers or causing harm to themselves.

But the AP found that the threshold for ICE officers to deploy WRAP is much lower than the manufacturer recommends. Instead, detainees interviewed by the AP said ICE officers placed the restraints on them after they were already shackled. They said this was done to intimidate or punish them for asking to speak to their lawyers or for expressing fear of being deported, often to places they had fled because of violence and torture.

What do ICE and DHS say?

ICE and the US Department of Homeland Security did not respond to detailed questions from the AP and declined a request for government policy on when and how to use WRAP.

“The use of restraints on detainees during deportation flights has long been standard ICE protocol and a necessary measure to ensure the safety and well-being of both detainees and the officers/agents accompanying them,” DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in an email to the AP. “Our practices are consistent with those adopted by other relevant authorities and are fully consistent with established legal standards.”

The agency would not specify those authorities or describe its practices.

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Darren and Pineda reported los angeles and Mustian reported new yorkAP journalists Ope Adetayo in Abuja, Ghana, Obed Lammy in Indianapolis and Ryan J. Foley contributed to this report. Dan Lawton also contributed.

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Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/.