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The head of the United States Department of Homeland Security reportedly authorized the acquisition of Spirit Airlines aircraft before discovering that the carrier did not actually own the aircraft – and that the planes were missing engines.

This bizarre incident was contained in a report released on the end of the week, which described how the official and a ex- political strategist had recently attempted to buy ten Boeing 737 planes from the airline. People familiar with the situation informed the outlet that the two intended to use the planes to increase deportation flights – and for personal travel.

Those insiders also claimed that ICE officials had warned them that buying planes would be far more expensive than simply increasing existing flight contracts.

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Making the situation more complex, Spirit, which filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in the summer, did not own the jets and their engines would have had to be bought independently. The proposal has since been paused, according to the investigation.

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 government shutdown, the US Coast Guard entered into a sole source contract with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation to acquire two new G700 luxury aircraft to facilitate travel for the secretary and the deputy secretary, at a cost to the taxpayer of $200m,” Democratic representatives wrote in a communication to the department.

A DHS spokesperson told the Journal that some details in the report about the plane purchases were incorrect but declined to offer additional clarification.

The legislature had earlier authorized the so-called “major immigration bill” in July, which dedicates roughly $170bn for immigration and border security operations, a sum that makes ICE the most heavily funded federal agency in the federal government.

In the autumn, it was revealed that the government was moving immigrants detained as part of its removal program in ways that violated their constitutionally protected rights, often by plane.

Confidential information reviewed from private airline GlobalX outlined the journeys of thousands of immigrants who have been shuttled around the country before deportation.