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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 carrier did not actually own the aircraft – and that the planes lacked engines.

This strange incident was contained in a investigation released on the end of the week, which recounted how the secretary and a ex- campaign manager 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 agents had cautioned them that buying planes would be far more expensive than simply expanding current charter agreements.

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Making the situation more complex, the airline, which entered bankruptcy protection for the second instance in August, did not own the jets and their engines would have had to be bought independently. The proposal has since been halted, according to the report.

In the interim, Democratic lawmakers on the House appropriations committee said in the autumn that during this season's record-long government shutdown, the Department of Homeland Security had already acquired two Gulfstream aircraft for $200 million.

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

A department representative told the Journal that some details in the report about the aircraft acquisitions were inaccurate but declined to provide additional clarification.

Congress had previously authorized the so-called “major immigration bill” in July, which allocates roughly $170 billion for immigration-related and border security operations, a sum that makes ICE the most well-funded federal agency in the US government.

In September, it was reported that the administration was moving individuals held as part of its removal program in ways that breached their legal rights, often by air.

Confidential information examined from private airline GlobalX detailed the travels of thousands of individuals who have been transported around the nation before deportation.