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The head of the US Department of Homeland Security allegedly approved the purchase of Spirit Airline aircraft before discovering that the carrier did not actually own the planes – and that the aircraft lacked engines.

This strange incident was contained in a report released on Friday, which described how the secretary and a former political strategist had recently attempted to purchase 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation told the paper that the pair intended to use the jets to increase deportation flights – and for personal travel.

Those sources also claimed that ICE officials had cautioned them that purchasing aircraft would be far more expensive than simply increasing current charter agreements.

Immigration officials confronting intense criticism after footage reportedly shows unresponsive individual clutching infant during arrest.

Making the situation more complex, the airline, which filed for bankruptcy proceedings for the second instance in August, did not own the jets and their power plants would have had to be bought separately. The proposal has since been halted, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Democrats on the House funding panel said in October that during this season's record-long government shutdown, the DHS had already purchased two Gulfstream jets for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the middle of a federal shutdown, the US Coast Guard signed a single-source contract 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 $200m,” Democratic representatives wrote in a letter to the DHS.

A DHS spokesperson informed the outlet that some details in the report about the plane purchases were incorrect but declined to offer further details.

The legislature had earlier authorized the so-called “big, beautiful bill” in the summer, which allocates roughly $170 billion for immigration-related and border security operations, a sum that makes ICE the most heavily funded law enforcement agency in the federal government.

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

Leaked data reviewed from private airline GlobalX outlined the journeys of thousands of immigrants who have been transported around the nation before deportation.