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The head of the United States Department of Homeland Security reportedly approved the acquisition of Spirit Airline aircraft before discovering that the airline did not truly possess the aircraft – and that the planes were missing engines.

This bizarre anecdote was contained in a report published on Friday, which described how the secretary and a ex- campaign manager had recently arranged to purchase 10 Boeing 737 aircraft from Spirit Airlines. Sources with knowledge told the paper that the two intended to use the planes to increase deportation flights – and for private use.

Those sources also claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials had cautioned them that buying planes would be significantly costlier than simply increasing existing flight contracts.

Immigration officials confronting fierce backlash after video reportedly shows unresponsive individual clutching child during detention.

Complicating matters further, the airline, which filed for bankruptcy protection for the second instance in the summer, did not possess the aircraft and their engines would have had to be bought separately. The plan has since been halted, according to the report.

In the interim, Democrats on the House appropriations committee said in the autumn that during this season's record-long government shutdown, the DHS had already purchased two Gulfstream aircraft for $200m.

“It has come to our attention that, in the middle of a federal shutdown, the United States Coast Guard signed a single-source contract with Gulfstream Aerospace to procure two new G700 luxury aircraft to facilitate travel for you and the deputy secretary, at a expense to the public of $200m,” Democratic representatives wrote in a letter to the department.

A department representative told the Journal that parts of its reporting about the plane purchases were inaccurate but refused to offer further details.

Congress had previously authorized the termed “major immigration bill” in the summer, which allocates roughly $170bn for immigration and border-related operations, a amount that makes ICE the most heavily funded law enforcement agency in the federal government.

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

Leaked data examined from charter airline GlobalX outlined the travels of thousands of individuals who have been shuttled around the country before removal.