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The secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security allegedly approved the acquisition of Spirit Airline aircraft before learning that the carrier did not truly possess the aircraft – and that the aircraft lacked engines.

This strange anecdote was contained in a report published on the end of the week, which recounted how the secretary and a former campaign manager had recently arranged to buy ten Boeing 737 planes from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation informed the outlet that the two planned to use the jets to expand removal flights – and for personal travel.

Those insiders also claimed that ICE officials had cautioned them that buying planes would be far more expensive than simply increasing existing flight contracts.

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Making the situation more complex, Spirit, which filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in the summer, did not possess the aircraft and their power plants would have had to be acquired separately. The proposal has since been halted, according to the report.

In the interim, Democratic lawmakers on the House appropriations committee said in the autumn that during this season's historically lengthy federal 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 entered into a single-source contract with Gulfstream Aerospace to procure two new G700 luxury aircraft to support travel for the secretary and the deputy secretary, at a cost to the public of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a communication to the DHS.

A DHS spokesperson told the Journal that some details in the report about the aircraft acquisitions were inaccurate but declined to offer additional clarification.

Congress had previously approved the termed “big, beautiful bill” in the summer, which dedicates roughly $170 billion for immigration and border-related operations, a amount that makes ICE the most heavily funded law enforcement agency in the federal government.

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

Leaked data examined from private airline Global Crossing outlined the travels of tens of thousands of immigrants who have been shuttled around the country before deportation.