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The head of the US Department of Homeland Security reportedly authorized the purchase of Spirit Airline jets before learning that the carrier did not actually own the aircraft – and that the aircraft were missing power plants.

This bizarre anecdote was detailed in a report published on the end of the week, which described how the official and a former campaign manager had recently attempted to purchase 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from the airline. People familiar with the situation told the paper that the pair planned to use the planes to expand removal flights – and for private use.

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

Immigration officials facing fierce backlash after video apparently shows unconscious man holding infant during arrest.

Complicating matters further, the airline, which entered bankruptcy protection for the second time in the summer, did not possess the jets and their power plants would have had to be acquired independently. The plan has since been halted, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Democrats on the House funding panel said in the autumn that during this fall's historically lengthy government shutdown, the DHS had already purchased two Gulfstream aircraft for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the midst of a government shutdown, the United States Coast Guard entered into a sole 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 public of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a communication to the department.

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

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

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

Confidential information reviewed from private airline GlobalX outlined the travels of tens of thousands of immigrants who have been transported around the country before deportation.