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The secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security reportedly approved the purchase of Spirit Airline jets before discovering that the airline did not actually own the aircraft – and that the planes were missing engines.

This strange anecdote was contained in a investigation released on the end of the week, which recounted how the official and a former campaign manager had recently attempted to purchase ten Boeing 737 planes from Spirit Airlines. Sources with knowledge told the paper that the two intended to use the jets to increase deportation flights – and for private use.

Those insiders also stated that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had warned them that buying planes would be significantly costlier than simply expanding existing flight contracts.

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

Making the situation more complex, Spirit, which entered bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in the summer, did not possess the aircraft and their engines would have had to be bought independently. The proposal has since been paused, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers on the House appropriations committee said in the autumn 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 midst of a government shutdown, the US Coast Guard signed a sole source contract with Gulfstream Aerospace to procure two new G700 luxury aircraft to facilitate travel for the secretary and the deputy, at a cost to the taxpayer of $200m,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a communication to the DHS.

A DHS spokesperson told the Journal that parts of its reporting about the aircraft acquisitions were incorrect but declined to offer further details.

The legislature had earlier authorized the termed “big, beautiful bill” in the summer, which allocates roughly $170 billion for immigration-related and border-related operations, a sum that makes Immigration and Customs Enforcement the most heavily funded federal agency in the federal government.

In the autumn, it was revealed that the government was moving individuals held as part of its deportation agenda in ways that breached their constitutionally protected rights, often by air.

Leaked data reviewed from private airline Global Crossing detailed the travels of thousands of individuals who have been transported around the nation before removal.