OAN Staff Blake Wolf
4:16 PM – Wednesday, December 10, 2025
The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed its purchase of six Boeing 737 planes, creating its own fleet that will be used for deportation flights.
A large bulk of the deportation flights have been contracted out by private charter companies, prompting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to purchase its own deportation planes, saving U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
The $140 million deal was inked with Daedalus Aviation Corporation, a Virginia-based company established in February 2024.
The purchase was first reported by The Washington Post, which received pushback from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who criticized the publication for failing to mention the taxpayer savings associated with the acquisition.
“*Somehow* the @waashingtonpost forgot to include anywhere in their story that this new initiative will save the US taxpayer $279 MILLION,” McLaughlin wrote.
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“I guess they didn’t want the public to know? These planes will allow ICE to operate more effectively, including by using more efficient flight patterns. President [Donald] Trump and [Secretary Kristi Noem] are committed to quickly and efficiently getting criminal illegal aliens OUT of our country,” she added.
The funds utilized to acquire the planes stem from President Donald Trump’s “One, Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which provided DHS with roughly $170 billion for immigration enforcement.
ICE is currently on track to deport over 600,000 illegal aliens by the end of the year, while approximately 70,000 people await deportation in ICE detention centers across the country.
Since Trump’s return to office, ICE has overseen over 1,700 deportation flights to 77 different nations, showcasing the administration’s priority of delivering on the president’s mass deportation campaign promise.
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