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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 truly possess the planes – and that the aircraft lacked engines.

This strange anecdote was detailed in a investigation published on Friday, which described how the official and a former political strategist had recently arranged to buy 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation informed the outlet that the two planned to use the planes to increase removal flights – and for personal travel.

Those sources also claimed that ICE agents had warned them that buying planes would be far more expensive than simply expanding existing flight contracts.

ICE facing fierce backlash after footage apparently shows unresponsive individual clutching child during arrest.

Making the situation more complex, Spirit, which filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in the summer, did not own the jets and their power plants would have had to be bought separately. The plan has since been halted, according to the investigation.

In the interim, Democrats on the House funding panel 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 $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the middle of a federal shutdown, the United States Coast Guard entered into a sole source agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation to procure two new G700 luxury aircraft to facilitate travel for the secretary and the deputy, at a cost to the taxpayer of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to the DHS.

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

Congress had earlier authorized the termed “big, beautiful bill” in the summer, which dedicates roughly $170 billion for immigration and border-related operations, a sum that makes ICE the most well-funded federal agency in the US government.

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

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