DHS Advances Plans for Its Own Deportation Airline Named ICE Air
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is pushing ahead with plans to create its own ‘ICE Air’ deportation airline, new filings by the federal agency have revealed. Last year, DHS said it planned to buy up to six planes to carry out deportation flights, rather than relying solely on contracted agencies like GlobalX, Omni Air International, and Avelo (the latter of which dumped its ICE deportation contract). In a notice to potential contractors who will help DHS run ICE Air, the agency said it planned to operate Boeing 737 and Gulfstream 650ERs or equivalent “to enable safe, reliable, and secure air operations in support of DHS missions.” The primary missions, however, will be deportation flights, voluntary repatriations, and high-risk charter operations, as well as the deployment of crisis response personnel, and flying senior DHS leaders like Administrator Markwayne Mullin around the country. The contractor for ICE Air will be expected to provide pilots and flight attendants, along with flight nurses and security personnel, when required. According to the document, ICE Air is expected to be operational by July 28, 2027. As it stands, the airline will launch with seven Boeing 737-700s and two C-37B aircraft. DHS says it reserves the right to expand its fleet later into the contract. While DHS has established that it wants to conduct deportation flights around-the-clock, 365 days a year, it still hasn’t worked out whether it wants to operate ICE Air from a single operating base or have the aircraft spread out across multiple airports. One idea that DHS is considering is a ‘hub and spoke’ model, much like commercial airlines fly passengers from regional airports into one of their ‘hubs’ and then back out to the passenger’s final destination. ICE Air was the brainchild of former DHS Administrator Kristi Noem, who spent $200 million of taxpayer money on a pair of "top-of-the-line" luxury Gulfstream G700 private jets. Noem justified the expense on the grounds that they could be used for deportation flights, although they were only then used to fly her around the country.