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The secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security allegedly authorized the purchase of Spirit Airlines jets before discovering that the airline did not actually own the planes – and that the aircraft were missing engines.

This strange incident was contained in a investigation published on the end of the week, which described how the secretary and a former political strategist had recently attempted to buy ten Boeing 737 planes from Spirit Airlines. People familiar with the situation told the paper that the pair intended to use the jets to increase removal flights – and for private use.

Those sources also claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had cautioned them that purchasing aircraft would be far more expensive than simply increasing current charter agreements.

Immigration officials facing fierce backlash after footage apparently shows unconscious man holding infant during detention.

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

In the interim, Democrats 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 purchased two Gulfstream jets for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the midst of a government shutdown, the United States Coast Guard signed a sole source contract with Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation to procure two new G700 luxury aircraft to support travel for you and the deputy secretary, at a cost to the taxpayer of $200 million,” Democratic lawmakers wrote in a letter to the department.

A DHS spokesperson informed the outlet that some details in the report about the aircraft acquisitions were incorrect but declined to provide additional clarification.

Congress had previously authorized the so-called “major immigration bill” in the summer, which dedicates roughly $170 billion for immigration-related and border-related operations, a amount that makes ICE the most well-funded law enforcement agency in the US government.

In the autumn, it was revealed that the government was moving individuals held as part of its deportation agenda in ways that breached their legal rights, often by plane.

Leaked data reviewed from charter airline GlobalX outlined the journeys of tens of thousands of individuals who have been shuttled around the country before deportation.