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The secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security reportedly authorized the purchase of Spirit Airlines aircraft before learning that the carrier did not truly possess the aircraft – and that the aircraft were missing engines.

This strange incident was contained in a report released on the end of the week, which described how the official and a former campaign manager had recently arranged to buy ten Boeing 737 planes from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation told the paper that the pair intended to use the planes to expand removal flights – and for private use.

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

Immigration officials confronting fierce backlash after footage apparently shows unconscious man holding child during detention.

Making the situation more complex, the airline, which filed for bankruptcy proceedings for the second instance in the summer, did not own the aircraft and their engines would have had to be acquired separately. The proposal has since been halted, according to the report.

In the interim, Democratic lawmakers on the House funding panel said in the autumn that during this season's historically lengthy government shutdown, the DHS had already acquired two Gulfstream jets for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the middle of a government shutdown, the United States Coast Guard signed a sole source agreement with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation to procure two new G700 luxury jets to support travel for the secretary and the deputy secretary, at a cost to the public of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a communication to the DHS.

A DHS spokesperson told the Journal that parts of its reporting about the aircraft acquisitions were incorrect but refused to offer further details.

Congress had previously approved the so-called “big, beautiful bill” in the summer, which allocates roughly $170bn for immigration-related and border-related operations, a amount that makes Immigration and Customs Enforcement the most heavily funded federal agency in the federal government.

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

Leaked data examined from private airline GlobalX outlined the journeys of thousands of individuals who have been shuttled around the nation before removal.