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Takeaways From the AP Investigation Into ICE’s Use of a Full-Body Restraint Device Known as the WRAP
Internal DHS warnings cite deaths linked to the WRAP device, yet ICE continues use on deportation flights as advocates report intimidation and punitive restraint practices.
- This year the Associated Press documented U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement using the WRAP on deportation flights, with five detainees describing hours-long restraint and witnesses in four countries reporting at least four other uses.
- Historically, the WRAP was introduced in the late 1990s as an alternative to hog-tying, and Safe Restraints Inc. says it made a modified version for ICE with a front ring and soft elbow cuffs.
- Federal legal filings and oversight records reveal autopsy findings in about a dozen fatal cases implicating restraint, a 2023 DHS civil-rights division report raising concerns, and $268,523 in DHS purchases since late 2015 with 91% spent under two Trump administrations.
- ICE would not provide records or its policy for using the WRAP, advocates say the agency fails to track usage as required, and detainees told AP officers used the device to intimidate after shackling.
- Manufacturer data show broad law-enforcement adoption: Safe Restraints Inc. said over 1,800 departments use more than 10,000 devices, while ICE applies the WRAP at a lower threshold than advised and DHS defends its use.
30 Articles
30 Articles
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE) faces increasing scrutiny for the use of a body restraint device known as “human wrapper” or WRAP. The device, used during deportation proceedings, is the subject of complaints by immigrants and lawyers, who link it to punishment, torture and even deaths, which generates a debate about the methods of the federal agency.What is and how does the WRAP device workThe WRAP is a complete body rest…
ICE's Use of a Full-Body Restraint on Immigrants, Referred to as 'the Burrito', Raises Concerns Over Inhumane Treatment - Bucks County Beacon
The Nigerian man described being roused with other detainees in September in the middle of the night. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers clasped shackles on their hands and feet, he said, and told them they were being sent to Ghana, even though none of them was from there. When they asked to speak to their attorney, he said, the officers refused and straitjacketed the already-shackled men in full-body restraint suits called the WR…
Washington Top News
Takeaways from the AP investigation into ICE’s use of a full-body restraint device known as the WRAP
The full-body restraint device known as the WRAP has become a harrowing part of deportations for some immigrants. The Associated Press identified multiple…
Associated Press News
Takeaways from the AP investigation into ICE's use of a full-body restraint device known as the WRAP
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been using a full-body restraint device called the WRAP during deportations.
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Bias Distribution
- 46% of the sources lean Left
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