DHS spends $140M on NEW JETS?

The Department of Homeland Security recently signed a contract worth nearly $140 million to purchase six Boeing 737 planes for deportations — a move that will allow the agency to operate its own fleet after receiving a massive funding increase from Congress. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the arm of DHS that carries out deportation flights, has long relied on charter planes, but two officials familiar with the contract and records reviewed by The Washington Post indicate ICE has broader plans. Earlier this year, Congress signed off on $170 billion for President Donald Trump’s border and immigration agenda over four years as part of the GOP’s sprawling tax bill. The money for the planes is coming from that funding, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss information that had not been made public. The enormous infusion of cash opened the door for the Trump administration to spend extensively on immigration enforcement to meet the president’s goals of deporting record numbers of immigrants. Administration officials have set a goal of deporting 1 million people by the end of Trump’s first year in office. Caption from article by Marianne LeVine and Jacob Bogage.