The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently signed a nearly $140 million contract for six Boeing 737 aircraft for deportation operations, a move that will allow the agency to operate its own fleet, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
Until now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) relied on chartered flights from private companies to carry out removals.
US buys deportations planes
🚨✈️ DHS confirms it will buy six Boeing 737s for deportations.
605,000 deportations have been conducted since President Trump took office.
11 million encounters at the U.S. border during Biden’s term, not counting millions undetected.
We need more plans! pic.twitter.com/Ev4OY9Nfrb– BoDeep (@BoDeepest) December 10, 2025
According to the information disclosed, the purchase will be financed with part of the US$170 billion approved by Congress earlier this year.
This is to support President Donald Trump’s border and immigration agenda over the next four years, resources included in the sweeping GOP-driven tax package passed in July.
The specific models of these 737s, which can accommodate between 85 and about 200 people on board depending on the configuration, are not known at this time.
The announcement comes after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has indicated on previous occasions that she would like her agency to have its own aircraft to execute deportations.
A month ago, The Wall Street Journal revealed that the Secretary had ordered ICE to purchase ten Boeing 737s from Spirit Airlines, but that the deal did not go through.
Trump has accelerated the number of migrant detentions inside the country, aiming to fulfill his campaign promise to carry out the largest number of deportations in “U.S. history.”
The government, however, has not released official data on how many people have been expelled so far this year, since the Republican took office in January.
According to data leaked to CNN in late August, ICE had deported nearly 200,000 people in the first seven months of the year.
Filed under: US buys planes for deportations
With information from EFE
