In its latest splurge, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will spend nearly $140 million on six Boeing 737 planes to deport immigrants. The new DHS planes are intended to cut costs "by allowing ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to operate more effectively," Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told The Washington Post. The planes will be purchased with funding granted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law in July and appropriated $170 billion for immigration enforcement.
Under President Donald Trump, the DHS has been tasked with deporting 1 million people by the end of the year. According to data analyzed by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data gathering, research, and distribution organization at Syracuse University, ICE removed a total of 290,603 immigrants between January 26 and November 15, a 7 percent jump from FY 2024. However, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, told the Post that more than 570,000 removals have already taken place. More than 65,000 immigrants are currently in ICE detention, many of whom pose no threat to public safety.
