Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem allegedly authorized the purchase of 10 Spirit Airlines planes for deportation operations — only to later discover that the budget airline didn’t actually own the planes, and that none of them came equipped with engines, according to a new Wall Street Journal report published Friday.
The revelation comes amid reported internal tensions within President Donald Trump’s administration over how to accelerate the deportation of undocumented immigrants. Noem, alongside Department of Homeland Security adviser Corey Lewandowski, had reportedly spearheaded the plan to acquire 10 Boeing 737 jets from Spirit Airlines for use in deportation flights.
The goal, sources told the Journal, was to create a fleet capable of transporting immigrants detained in mass raids conducted by masked agents under Trump’s directive. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials reportedly warned Noem and Lewandowski that buying the planes outright would be far more costly than expanding existing flight contracts.
Further scrutiny of the proposal uncovered a more glaring problem: Spirit Airlines didn’t own the planes in question — and none of the aircraft came with engines.
In addition to using the jets for deportation purposes, the Journal reported that Noem allegedly planned to use them for personal travel. The report also noted that FBI Director Kash Patel has faced similar criticism after using a $60 million FBI jet to attend his girlfriend’s performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at a wrestling event in Pennsylvania.
Patel defended his actions, saying his girlfriend was “a rock-solid conservative and a country music sensation who has done more for this nation than most will in ten lifetimes.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Journal that aspects of its reporting on the attempted plane purchases were inaccurate but did not specify which details were in dispute.
Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal.
