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The secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security reportedly approved the purchase of Spirit Airline jets before discovering that the airline did not truly possess the planes – and that the planes were missing engines.

This bizarre incident was detailed in a investigation published on the end of the week, which recounted how the secretary and a former campaign manager had recently attempted to purchase 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. Sources with knowledge informed the outlet that the two intended to use the jets to expand deportation flights – and for private use.

Those sources also claimed that ICE officials had cautioned them that purchasing aircraft would be far more expensive than simply increasing existing flight contracts.

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

In the interim, Democrats on the House appropriations committee said in the autumn that during this fall's record-long federal shutdown, the DHS had already acquired two Gulfstream aircraft for $200 million.

“It has come to our attention that, in the middle of a government shutdown, the United States Coast Guard signed a single-source agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace to acquire two new G700 luxury jets to facilitate travel for you and the deputy secretary, at a cost to the public of $200 million,” Democratic representatives wrote in a letter to the department.

A DHS spokesperson told the Journal that some details in the report about the plane purchases were incorrect but refused to provide further details.

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

In September, it was reported that the administration was transporting immigrants detained as part of its deportation agenda in ways that violated their legal rights, often by air.

Confidential information examined from private airline Global Crossing outlined the journeys of thousands of immigrants who have been shuttled around the nation before deportation.