Ban on ICE Use of ‘The Wrap’ Device Sought in House Bill (1)

House Democrats moved Wednesday to ban immigration officers from using a full-body restraint device that Bloomberg Law found was repeatedly used in incidents where people died.

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) introduced the Full Body Restraint Prohibition Act, which would bar agencies within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from buying and using restraint devices like The Wrap, which immobilizes people from their feet to their shoulders.

A summary of the bill cites a January investigation by Bloomberg Law which identified 41 deaths following law enforcement’s use of The Wrap within the past 10 years.

Bloomberg Law found law enforcement officials often used the device on individuals who were experiencing a mental health crisis or had used illegal drugs. The investigation also found seven people who were injured when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers bound them in The Wrap during deportation trips. One individual, a Cameroonian asylum seeker, was partially disabled after ICE officers strapped him into The Wrap for four hours on a flight in 2020, ignoring his pleas to loosen the overtightened restraint.

“We understand that DHS is a threat to our collective safety and that funding it fuels destruction in our communities and human suffering,” Ramirez’s office wrote in a statement to Bloomberg Law. “This legislation is an additional step to end the pain and violence caused by [the Department of Homeland Security].”

The bill summary also cited a 2025 Associated Press investigation that linked the device to more than a dozen deaths.

ICE spent more than $268,000 on Wrap restraints since 2017 to use on flights, according to federal contracting data.

A representative for Safe Restraints, Inc. which manufactures The Wrap, told Bloomberg Law at the time of its investigation that autopsy reports did not attribute deaths to usage of The Wrap and that drug overdoses were the most common cause of death.

“In our 30-year history, and with 50,000 + estimated applications per year, we are not currently facing any lawsuits, have never had a lawsuit against Safe Restraints for a causational death or injury and we are not aware of any cases or incidents citing The Wrap as being the official/sole determined cause of injury or death,” CEO Charles Hammond wrote in an email to Bloomberg Law during its investigation.

Ramirez’s bill directs DHS to terminate any employees who use the Wrap after it is banned.

The legislation was endorsed by more than a dozen civil and human rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Immigration Law Center.

As of Tuesday, the bill had nine Democratic co-sponsors and no Republicans supporters, suggesting a difficult path for the proposed legislation in reaching the House floor for a vote.

The co-sponsors are Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Lateefah Simon (D-Calif.), Henry Johnson, Jr. (D-Ga.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), and Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.