The Trump administration is giving Immigration and Customs Enforcement $464.5 million to buy 10 airplanes for its deportation fleet, a larger expansion than has been previously reported.
The $464.5 million has been allotted to purchase eight Boeing 737 jets and two Gulfstream G650 jets, according to Office of Management and Budget documents reviewed by NOTUS and published in late March. ICE traditionally uses charter flights and military aircraft for deportations. The purchase of airplanes is a marked departure for the agency.
The money for the planes is coming from a $29.9 billion pool of funds designated for the administration’s immigration agenda as part of the July reconciliation bill. ICE cannot spend the $464.5 million on anything other than those ten planes, according to a March 21 footnote in the Office of Management and Budget’s apportionments database.
While the Boeing 737 jets are typically used to carry large numbers of passengers, Gulfstream G650 jets are designed to carry a maximum of 19 passengers and are more often used as private planes for large corporations and executives.
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DHS and ICE did not respond to requests for comment about the planes.
The Washington Post first reported in December that ICE had signed a contract with Daedalus Aviation to purchase six Boeing 737 jets for $140 million.
It is not clear whether the funds apportioned by OMB in March will be used to cover the $140 million Daedalus Aviation contract. If the funds are used for that contract, the spending would only make up about one-third of the total amount available and it would only cover six of the 10 jets.
ICE’s purchase of planes for its deportation fleet has come under increased scrutiny for its possible link to the former DHS adviser Corey Lewandowski, who played an outsize role in reviewing the agency’s contracts.
Daedalus Aviation’s president also runs Salus Worldwide Solutions, which received nearly $1 billion as part of another DHS contract. NBC News reported that Salus Worldwide Solutions has ties to Lewandowski.
Congressional Republicans are investigating a former DHS contractor with a close relationship to Lewandowski for her role reviewing DHS contracts, NOTUS previously reported.
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