The United States government plans to purchase six Boeing 737 aircraft to support deportation operations, broadening the administration’s push to accelerate the removal of people living in the country without legal authorization.
The jets will be acquired from Daedalus Aviation under a contract valued at roughly $140 million, according to a Washington Post report that cited two sources with knowledge of the agreement. The Department of Homeland Security later confirmed the deal, though contract details have yet to appear in federal procurement databases.
The purchases will save $279 million in taxpayer dollars by allowing ICE to operate more effectively, a DHS spokesperson said to Bloomberg News.
ICE Air Operations, the agency’s main transportation unit, currently depends on a combination of chartered aircraft and commercial flights. It operates from hubs in Arizona, Texas, Louisiana and Florida to move detainees between U.S. facilities and to carry out removals abroad. DHS said the addition of government-owned aircraft would allow ICE to conduct more flights directly rather than relying on contractors, generating cost savings.
The aviation unit has long drawn scrutiny for its lack of transparency, with limited public information available on flight routes, expenses and conditions during transport.
Boeing’s 737 aircraft are commonly used on domestic and short- to medium-haul international routes and can typically carry up to about 200 passengers, depending on configuration. The planes are capable of nonstop flights to destinations across the United States as well as Central America, the Caribbean and parts of South America.
Daedalus Aviation says on its website that it provides a range of commercial and charter aviation services. The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
The planned aircraft purchase comes as immigration enforcement has intensified nationwide. The administration has targeted 1 million deportations this year, though it remains short of that goal. Since President Trump returned to office in January, more than 1,700 deportation flights have been operated to 77 countries, primarily to locations in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to Human Rights Watch data cited by Bloomberg News.
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