DHS head reportedly authorized purchase of 10 engineless Spirit Airlines planes that airline didn’t own | Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem, secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), reportedly authorized the purchase of Spirit Airlines jets before discovering that the airline did not actually own the planes and that the planes had no engines.

A strange anecdote was told as follows: Wall Street Magazine The report, published on Friday, described how Noem and Corey Lewandowski, who managed Donald Trump’s first winning presidential campaign, recently agreed to purchase 10 Boeing 737 planes from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation told the newspaper that the two planned to use the jets to expand their deportation flights and for personal travel.

These sources also claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials warned them that purchasing the aircraft would be much more expensive than expanding existing flight contracts.

Complicating matters further was the fact that Spirit, which filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in August, did not own the jets and their engines had to be purchased separately. The plan has since been paused, according to the Journal.

Meanwhile, Democrats on the House appropriations committee said in October that DHS had purchased two Gulfstream jets for $200 million during this fall’s record-long government shutdown.

“In the midst of the government shutdown, it has come to our attention that the United States Coast Guard has entered into a sole source agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation to purchase two new G700 luxury jets at a cost of $200 million to taxpayers to support travel for you and the deputy secretary,” Democratic representatives Rosa DeLauro and Lauren Underwood wrote. a letter To DHS.

A DHS spokesman told the Journal that parts of its reporting on the aircraft purchases were inaccurate but declined to provide additional clarification.

Congress had previously approved Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill” in July, allocating nearly $170 billion for immigration and border-related operations; This amount makes ICE the most heavily funded law enforcement agency in the federal government.

In September, the Guardian reported that the Trump administration was moving detained immigrants, often by plane, in violation of their constitutionally protected rights as part of its deportation agenda.

Leaked data examined from charter airline Global Crossing (GlobalX) detailed the journeys of tens of thousands of immigrants shuttling around the country before being deported.