By FRED SHUSTER
The Trump administration on Friday blasted the American Civil Liberties Union, which is suing ICE in Los Angeles to obtain records concerning the use of the WRAP, a controversial full-body restraint device the civil rights organization alleges is used to punish individuals in immigration custody and on deportation flights.
Sometimes referred to as “the burrito” or “the bag,” the WRAP 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.
“Another day, another false allegation,” a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to City News Service. “The ACLU should just change its name. It’s clear they only care about illegal aliens — not Americans.”
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’s acquisition and utilization of the WRAP.
“Individuals 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,” the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court states.
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.
The reports “are particularly troubling given longstanding questions about the policies and safeguards” governing ICE’s use of the device, according to the complaint.
An ICE spokesperson stated in an email to CNS that the suits “are 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.”
The ICE representative said the devices are never used in ICE detention centers.
In November 2024, in its annual report to Congress, the DHS civil rights office opened a complaint alleging ICE “inappropriately” used the WRAP and did not operate 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,” according to the 21-page lawsuit filed Thursday.
The ACLU also contends that ICE’s current Air Operations Handbook “provides little substantive guidance concerning when, how or under what safeguards the device may be deployed.”
The Freedom of Information Act request seeks ICE records to determine the extent and manner of the agency’s use of the WRAP, the policies and criteria governing its deployment and the agency’s oversight of its safety and compliance with legal requirements, according to the suit.
“The requested records are necessary to evaluate whether ICE’s practices comport with constitutional requirements, medically accepted standards and the agency’s own policies and obligations,” the ACLU stated.
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.
“Individuals described an inability to breathe, chest pressure and loss of sensation while restrained,” the suit says.
The complaint cites an October 2025 article in which Associated Press identified a dozen fatal cases in the last decade “where local police or jailers around the U.S. used the WRAP and autopsies determined ‘restraint’ played a role in the death.”