Published 6 months ago • loading... • Updated 6 months ago
DHS Puts Spirit 737 Deal on Hold After Finding Jets Weren't Owned or Engine-Equipped
Department of Homeland Security sought 10 Boeing 737 jets to boost deportation flights and travel but found Spirit Airlines neither owned nor equipped the planes with engines.
Ordering ten Boeing 737 jets from Spirit Airlines, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem later learned the airline didn't own the planes and they lacked engines, a few weeks ago.
To boost deportations and for personal travel, Kristi Noem and Department of Homeland Security adviser Corey Lewandowski planned to use ten planes, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials warned costs would be higher than expanding flight contractors.
Spirit Airlines had filed for bankruptcy twice, and during the government shutdown, DHS purchased two Gulfstream jets for $200 million, Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee said last month.
DHS paused the purchase and shortly after informed House Appropriations Committee Democrats that the project was on hold amid Border Czar Tom Homan's concerns raised to President Donald Trump.
Pressure from the White House is clear, with ICE and Border Protection agents making 3,000 arrests in Chicago over two months as President Donald Trump said in a 60 Minutes interview last week they 'haven't gone far enough'.