🔗 Share this article

The head of the US Department of Homeland Security reportedly authorized the acquisition of Spirit Airline aircraft before learning that the carrier did not truly possess the aircraft – and that the planes were missing power plants.

This bizarre anecdote was contained in a report published on the end of the week, which recounted how the official and a former campaign manager had recently attempted to buy 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. Sources with knowledge told the paper that the two intended to use the planes to increase deportation flights – and for personal travel.

Those sources also stated that ICE agents had warned them that purchasing aircraft would be far more expensive than simply increasing existing flight contracts.

ICE confronting fierce backlash after video reportedly shows unconscious man holding infant during detention.

Making the situation more complex, the airline, which filed for bankruptcy protection for the second instance in August, did not possess the jets and their engines would have had to be acquired independently. The plan has since been halted, according to the investigation.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers on the House appropriations committee said in October that during this fall's record-long government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security had already acquired two Gulfstream jets for $200 million.

“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 jets to support travel for the secretary and the deputy secretary, at a expense to the taxpayer of $200m,” Democratic representatives wrote in a letter to the DHS.

A department representative told the Journal that some details in the report about the plane purchases were inaccurate but refused to provide additional clarification.

Congress had previously approved the termed “major immigration bill” in the summer, which dedicates roughly $170bn for immigration and border security operations, a amount that makes Immigration and Customs Enforcement the most heavily funded federal agency in the US government.

In the autumn, it was revealed that the administration was transporting immigrants detained as part of its deportation agenda in ways that violated their constitutionally protected rights, often by plane.

Leaked data reviewed from charter airline Global Crossing outlined the travels of tens of thousands of immigrants who have been shuttled around the nation before removal.