🔗 Share this article

The secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security allegedly approved the purchase of Spirit Airlines jets before discovering that the airline did not truly possess the aircraft – and that the planes were missing power plants.

This bizarre anecdote was detailed in a report released on the end of the week, which recounted how the secretary and a ex- political strategist had recently arranged to purchase 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation told the paper that the pair intended to use the jets to expand deportation flights – and for personal travel.

Those sources also stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had warned them that buying planes would be significantly costlier than simply increasing existing flight contracts.

Immigration officials facing intense criticism after video reportedly shows unresponsive individual holding child during detention.

Complicating matters further, the airline, which filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in the summer, did not possess the aircraft and their engines would have had to be acquired separately. The plan has since been paused, according to the investigation.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers on the House appropriations committee said in October that during this season's record-long government shutdown, the DHS had already acquired two Gulfstream aircraft for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the middle of a government shutdown, the US Coast Guard signed a single-source contract with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation to procure two new G700 luxury aircraft to support travel for the secretary and the deputy, at a expense to the public of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to the DHS.

A department representative informed the outlet that some details in the report about the plane purchases were incorrect but declined to offer additional clarification.

Congress had earlier authorized the so-called “big, beautiful bill” in July, which dedicates roughly $170 billion for immigration-related and border security operations, a sum that makes ICE the most heavily funded federal agency in the US government.

In the autumn, it was reported that the government was transporting immigrants held as part of its removal program in ways that violated their constitutionally protected rights, often by air.

Leaked data examined from charter airline Global Crossing outlined the travels of tens of thousands of immigrants who have been transported around the nation before deportation.