Digging into AP investigation on ICE's use of full-body restraint device

In October 2025, posts circulated online claiming that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was using a controversial full-body restraint device, called "the WRAP," on detained immigrants.

"The WRAP was sold as a safer alternative to deadly restraints. Now it's being used to silence and immobilize people before deportation—turning 'safety' into cruelty," one Facebook post (archived) read. "ICE is now trying to use a controversial full body restraint device during raids," a caption on X read (archived). Dozens of Snopes readers also searched the site to verify the rumor.

The claim stemmed from an Oct. 14 Associated Press investigation that uncovered a longstanding relationship between the device's manufacturer, Safe Restraints, and ICE dating back to the end of former President Barack Obama's administration. The AP reported that it found ICE officials had a "much lower threshold" for deploying the WRAP than the manufacturer advised. 

Below, we explored how the AP investigation reached its conclusions and what information was publicly verifiable at the time of publication:

What the AP's investigation alleged

The AP said its reporters interviewed five people who said agents restrained them using the WRAP, sometimes for hours, on ICE deportation flights dating back to 2020. Some of the interviewees opted to remain anonymous; therefore, it was not possible for Snopes to independently verify their statements. One man from Nigeria was said to have described being restrained in the WRAP, despite already being shackled, on a 16-hour deportation flight to Ghana.

The interviewees reportedly said ICE used the WRAP on them to "intimidate or punish them for asking to speak to their attorneys or expressing fear at being deported." The investigation also claimed that witnesses and family members in four countries testified the WRAP's use on at least seven additional people "this year."

The investigation found that the Department of Homeland Security had paid the WRAP's California-based manufacturer $268,523 since the end of the Obama administration. Using the USAspending.gov website (archived), an open-source government spending tracker, Snopes reached the same figure (by adding together all the total obligation figures from fiscal year 2017 onward on the bar chart labeled "Transactions Over Time" — with fiscal year 2015 included, the total was $274,398).

The CEO of Safe Restraints, Charles Hammond, told the AP the company made a modified version of the WRAP for ICE specifically designed to restrain people during flights and long bus trips. At the 42-second mark of a video at the top of the AP's article, Hammond said: "I wouldn't say that that's ICE's overall policy, because if it was anybody's policy, I'd have a hard time working with that organization, right? Because that's not the purpose of the WRAP."

The investigation also made a connection between at least 12 fatalities in the U.S. over "the last decade" where local police or jailers used the WRAP and autopsies determined "restraint" played a role in the death — which contributed, in part, to the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties — a division of the DHS, which itself is ICE's parent agency — voicing concerns in an internal 2023 report (see ICE's reference to the report on Page 87, Paragraph 4).

"The use of restraints on detainees during deportation flights has been long standing, standard ICE protocol and an essential measure to ensure the safety and well-being of both detainees and the officers/agents accompanying them," Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlan said in a statement to the AP. "Our practices align with those followed by other relevant authorities and is fully in line with established legal standards."

Snopes wrote to ICE and DHS seeking comment on the findings of the investigation and did not immediately receive a response. We will update this story if we do.

In short, the AP's article found a major lack of transparency regarding ICE's use of the black-and-yellow restraint device. The agency reportedly declined to answer any of the AP's "detailed questions" and was also said to have refused the AP's request for the official policy regarding when and how to use the WRAP.

How much of the investigation is publicly verifiable?

In the AP's video, Hammond, the WRAP manufacturer's CEO, explicitly acknowledged ICE's use of the device, as also reported in the text of the investigation. DHS did not deny that ICE used the device; rather, the department reportedly said to the AP that "the use of restraints on detainees during deportation flights has been long standing."

USAspending.gov also indicated that there had been several government contracts with Safe Restraints since 2015. For example, a July 2025 contract indicated that the U.S. government paid the company an "obligated" $33,530. The payment details read: "The award provides a specialized law enforcement restraints for use on detainees during flights to support ICE enforcement and removal operations."

The AP claimed ICE continued to use the WRAP despite the DHS civil rights division's 2023 report that raised "serious concerns over the lack of policies governing its use." The AP acquired this internal report through an April 2025 Freedom of Information Act request, as evidenced in a DHS FOIA activity report (see Paragraph 4 on Page 68 of the PDF).

The DHS civil rights division's Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report referenced its complaint regarding the WRAP as follows (see Page 70, Paragraph 1):

ICE's Use of the WRAP 

Compliance opened a complaint alleging ICE inappropriately used the WRAP, a restraint device used instead of handcuffs and leg shackles for individuals who are noncompliant or pose a safety risk, during removals. The complaint alleged that ICE did not use the device in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, which caused breathing difficulty and pain, failed to consider medical and psychological conditions prior to use, and lacked sufficient monitoring. Compliance found that ICE does not have sufficient policies or operational guidance governing its use of the WRAP, contributing to concerns in the way it was used. In September 2023, Compliance issued a Recommendation Memorandum to ICE recommending development of a policy governing use of the WRAP, documentation, and new expanded and specific training.

The AP's investigation also alleged that this report stemmed, in part, from increasing reports of fatalities involving police offices around the country. The device was indeed used across the U.S. at the time of publication, as evidenced by Safe Restraints's media webpage, and there were several publicly available reports of allegedly related deaths and families suing on the basis of law enforcement officials allegedly misusing the WRAP. Safe Restraints was not involved in these lawsuits.