the WRAP<\/a> is intended for short-term use only but has been used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on detainees for extended periods of time, and has been known to cause physical harm and even death, according to the ACLU of Southern California.<\/p>\n\u201cAnother day, another false allegation,\u201d a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to City News Service. \u201cThe ACLU should just change its name. It\u2019s clear they only care about illegal aliens \u2014 not Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n
In February, Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (D-Illinois) joined the League of United Latin American Citizens, National Immigration Law Center and other advocacy groups to introduce the Full Body Restraint Prohibition Act, pending legislation that would prohibit the use of funds for DHS\u2019s acquisition and utilization of the WRAP.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndividuals subjected to the device have reported difficulty breathing, chest pressure, loss of sensation and serious injuries, while medical and use-of-force experts have warned that prolonged or improper use of full-body restraints can create significant risks of positional asphyxia, circulatory distress and death,\u201d the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court states.<\/p>\n
The ACLU alleges that reports suggest ICE personnel have used the WRAP as punishment for undocumented individuals who protested their deportations or sought to communicate with attorneys.<\/p>\n
The reports \u201care particularly troubling given longstanding questions about the policies and safeguards\u201d governing ICE\u2019s use of the device, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n
An ICE spokesperson stated in an email to CNS that the suits \u201care only used on flights with combative or potentially self-harming detainees. To further clarify, when they are used, it is only on our planes and not on commercial flights. The individuals that put the wrap on detainees must also possess necessary training to ensure it is used correctly. While these wraps are used, it is very rare.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ICE representative said the devices are never used in ICE detention centers.<\/p>\n
In November 2024, in its annual report to Congress, the DHS civil rights office opened a complaint alleging ICE \u201cinappropriately\u201d used the WRAP and did not operate the device in accordance with the manufacturer\u2019s instructions, \u201cwhich caused breathing difficulty and pain, failed to consider medical and psychological conditions prior to use and lacked sufficient monitoring,\u201d according to the 21-page lawsuit filed Thursday.<\/p>\n
The ACLU also contends that ICE\u2019s current Air Operations Handbook \u201cprovides little substantive guidance concerning when, how or under what safeguards the device may be deployed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Freedom of Information Act request seeks ICE records to determine the extent and manner of the agency\u2019s use of the WRAP, the policies and criteria governing its deployment and the agency\u2019s oversight of its safety and compliance with legal requirements, according to the suit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe requested records are necessary to evaluate whether ICE\u2019s practices comport with constitutional requirements, medically accepted standards and the agency\u2019s own policies and obligations,\u201d the ACLU stated.<\/p>\n
When used during deportations, individuals were immobilized for extended periods in positions posing elevated risk of breathing impairment and circulatory distress, according to the lawsuit, which says medical experts have cautioned that prolonged immobilization in seated or bent-forward positions increases the danger of asphyxia, especially for people with respiratory or cardiac vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndividuals described an inability to breathe, chest pressure and loss of sensation while restrained,\u201d the suit says.<\/p>\n
The complaint cites an October 2025 article in which Associated Press identified a dozen fatal cases in the last decade \u201cwhere local police or jailers around the U.S. used the WRAP and autopsies determined \u2018restraint\u2019 played a role in the death.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0 By FRED SHUSTER | City News Service The Trump administration Friday blasted the American Civil Liberties Union,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[7,536,14,48,52,51,47,137,50,49,100,13,136],"class_list":["post-476418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-california","tag-donald-trump","tag-immigration","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}