🔗 Share this article

The head of the US Department of Homeland Security allegedly approved the purchase of Spirit Airline jets before learning that the carrier did not truly possess the aircraft – and that the aircraft lacked power plants.

This bizarre anecdote was detailed in a investigation released on the end of the week, which described how the official and a former campaign manager had recently attempted to purchase 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from the airline. Sources with knowledge told the paper that the two planned to use the jets to increase removal flights – and for private use.

Those insiders also stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had warned them that purchasing aircraft would be far more expensive than simply increasing current charter agreements.

Immigration officials facing intense criticism after footage reportedly shows unresponsive individual clutching infant during arrest.

Complicating matters further, the airline, which filed for bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in August, did not own the aircraft and their power plants would have had to be acquired independently. The proposal has since been halted, according to the investigation.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers on the House funding panel said in October that during this fall's historically lengthy government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security had already purchased two Gulfstream aircraft for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the middle of a federal shutdown, the United States Coast Guard entered into a single-source agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace to procure two new G700 luxury jets to support travel for you and the deputy secretary, at a cost to the taxpayer of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a communication to the DHS.

A department representative told the Journal that some details in the report about the aircraft acquisitions were incorrect but declined to provide additional clarification.

The legislature had earlier approved the termed “big, beautiful bill” in the summer, which dedicates roughly $170bn for immigration-related and border security operations, a sum that makes ICE the most heavily funded federal agency in the federal government.

In September, it was revealed that the administration was transporting individuals held as part of its deportation agenda in ways that violated their legal rights, often by air.

Leaked data examined from charter airline GlobalX outlined the journeys of tens of thousands of individuals who have been shuttled around the country before deportation.