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The secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security reportedly authorized the acquisition of Spirit Airlines aircraft before learning that the airline did not truly possess the planes – and that the planes were missing power plants.

This bizarre anecdote was contained in a report published on the end of the week, which recounted how the official and a former political strategist had recently attempted to purchase ten Boeing 737 planes from Spirit Airlines. Sources with knowledge told the paper that the pair intended to use the jets to increase deportation flights – and for personal travel.

Those sources also claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had cautioned them that purchasing aircraft would be significantly costlier than simply increasing current charter agreements.

Immigration officials confronting intense criticism after video reportedly shows unconscious man clutching infant during arrest.

Complicating matters further, Spirit, which entered bankruptcy protection for the second instance in the summer, did not own the aircraft and their engines would have had to be acquired independently. The proposal has since been paused, according to the report.

In the interim, Democrats on the House funding panel said in the autumn that during this season's record-long government shutdown, the DHS had already acquired two Gulfstream aircraft for $200 million.

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

A department representative told the Journal that some details in the report about the aircraft acquisitions were incorrect but refused to offer additional clarification.

Congress had earlier approved the so-called “major immigration bill” in July, which dedicates roughly $170 billion for immigration and border security operations, a amount that makes Immigration and Customs Enforcement the most heavily funded law enforcement agency in the federal government.

In September, it was reported that the government was moving immigrants detained as part of its deportation agenda in ways that breached their legal rights, often by plane.

Confidential information examined from charter airline GlobalX detailed the travels of thousands of individuals who have been shuttled around the country before removal.