🔗 Share this article

The head of the United States Department of Homeland Security allegedly authorized the acquisition of Spirit Airline aircraft before learning that the carrier did not actually own the aircraft – and that the aircraft were missing engines.

This strange anecdote was contained in a investigation released on the end of the week, which described how the secretary and a former political strategist had recently arranged to buy ten Boeing 737 planes from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation informed the outlet that the pair intended to use the planes to increase deportation flights – and for private use.

Those insiders also claimed that ICE agents had warned them that purchasing aircraft would be far more expensive than simply expanding existing flight contracts.

Immigration officials confronting intense criticism after footage reportedly shows unconscious man clutching child during arrest.

Complicating matters further, Spirit, which entered bankruptcy protection for the second instance in August, did not possess the jets and their power plants would have had to be bought separately. The proposal has since been halted, according to the investigation.

In the interim, Democratic lawmakers on the House appropriations committee said in the autumn that during this fall's historically lengthy federal shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security had already purchased two Gulfstream jets for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the midst of a federal shutdown, the US Coast Guard signed a sole source agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace to procure two new G700 luxury jets to facilitate travel for the secretary and the deputy secretary, at a expense to the public of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to the department.

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

Congress had previously approved the so-called “major immigration bill” in July, which allocates roughly $170bn for immigration-related and border security operations, a amount that makes ICE the most well-funded federal agency in the US government.

In the autumn, it was revealed that the administration was moving immigrants held as part of its removal program in ways that violated their constitutionally protected rights, often by plane.

Confidential information reviewed from charter airline Global Crossing outlined the journeys of tens of thousands of individuals who have been transported around the nation before removal.