SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 15: Detainees board a plane chartered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at King County International Airport on April 15, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. Semi-regular flights carrying detainees pass through the airport as the Trump administration continues to plan for the expansion of immigrant detention and deportation.
Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images
The Department of Homeland Security spent $464 million on 10 used aircraft it said were urgently needed for deportations, but most have rarely been used and several are now expected to serve other government purposes, according to The New York Times.
DHS awarded the no-bid contract to Virginia-based Daedalus Aviation Corporation beginning last November, invoking an exemption allowing agencies to bypass competitive bidding in cases of "unusual and compelling urgency." Seven Boeing 737 passenger jets have since spent months parked at an airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana, while three business jets have flown sporadically.
An internal government document obtained by NYT said DHS lacked the personnel needed to operate the passenger jets. The department said they were undergoing maintenance and that two are expected to begin deportation flights later this month.
The purchase followed a push back in August by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for ICE to establish its own fleet rather than rely primarily on charter aircraft. In August 2025, former ICE chief of staff Jason Houser estimated that doubling deportations from Biden-era levels could require roughly 30 aircraft. Aviation experts also warned that owning a fleet would require ICE to provide pilots, maintenance and other personnel.
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ICE agents look on as deportees board a GlobeX plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on February 24, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
DHS has continued using its existing ICE Air charter network, which has operated about 25,800 domestic and international flights since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to Human Rights First's ICE Flight Monitor.
The department is now seeking other uses for some of the purchased aircraft. One Gulfstream jet has been leased to the FBI and is being used in part for Director Kash Patel's travel. DHS also considered transferring a Boeing 737 business jet, previously described as serving both deportation and Cabinet travel, to the Pentagon.
Senate Democrats said DHS officials told them four of the seven passenger 737s were no longer expected to transport detainees and could instead be used for congressional travel.
The aircraft purchases are part of broader DHS reliance on expedited contracting. The Times found that the department has invoked urgency to justify more than $29 billion across roughly 500 contracts during Trump's second term.
"If you asked me to write a list of the things ICE needed to increase the number of deportations, buying its own fleet of airplanes would absolutely not make the top ten," former acting ICE director John Sandweg told The Times.
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Tags: Department of Homeland Security, Deportations, Kristi Noem, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
