2026年5月16日 美国东部时间6:00 / CNN
作者：勒内·马什、奥黛丽·阿什
发布于2026年5月16日美国东部时间6:00
2026年3月6日，一架新近用于遣返航班的国土安全部飞机在弗吉尼亚州杜勒斯国际机场被拍到。该飞机属于该机构全新的遣返机队。
CNN
美国国土安全部一项搁置已久的提案——该提案野心勃勃，该机构此前从未付诸实施——在时任部长克里斯蒂·诺姆的领导下得以恢复。
官员们斥资数千万纳税人美元为该部门购置了专属机队，并开始为摆脱数十年来依赖包机航空公司执行遣返航班的模式奠定基础。他们最终计划开设自己的迷你航空公司，以协助落实唐纳德·特朗普总统每年驱逐100万无证移民的目标。
如今，国土安全部独家向CNN透露，在新任国土安全部长马克韦恩·马林重新评估该计划后，他们计划近期开始使用这些飞机执行遣返航班——将由承包商负责运营这些飞机。今年3月接替诺姆的马林对其任期内签署的合同进行了全机构范围的审查。
“我们预计将在未来几周内将这些飞机纳入遣返行动，”国土安全部发言人在一份声明中表示。
在诺姆任职期间，国土安全部官员辩称，此举将为纳税人节省2.8亿美元，部分原因是该部门可以规划更高效的航线，不过他们并未给出节省开支的具体时间框架。
时任国土安全部长克里斯蒂·诺姆于3月3日出席参议院司法委员会听证会并作证。
伊丽莎白·弗朗茨/路透社
但一些现任和前任国土安全部官员以及航空行业消息人士质疑，这项前所未有的举措是否具备长期可行性，能否兑现承诺的节省效果。一些批评人士援引行业数据指出，该部门至少在部分飞机的采购上支付了高于市场的价格。
“很难不将这视为对公共资金的浪费，”一名航空业高管告诉CNN。
记录显示，国土安全部在今年1月至3月期间购置了10架飞机。据一位知情人士和公开的航班追踪数据显示，该机队自那以后基本处于闲置状态——部分飞机在路易斯安那州的一个维护设施停放了数月。
尽管其中一些飞机在伊朗战争初期被用于疏散任务，但尚未有任何一架用于遣返行动。
将飞机出售给国土安全部的代达罗斯航空公司首席执行官威廉·沃尔特斯告诉CNN，这些飞机是以成本价加上间接费用出售的，其中包括将民用客机改装用于移民执法目的的费用。
沃尔特斯和国土安全部均拒绝提供飞机成本的明细。
国土安全部发言人表示，这些飞机将为移民执法提供“重要支持”，但“任何与这些飞机采购相关的决定都是在国土安全部领导层更迭之前做出的”。
该部门补充道，尽管马林及其团队与移民和海关执法局合作“评估了使用这些飞机的运营计划”，但这些飞机目前仍“在接受维护和安全检查，以及必要的适配改装，以满足遣返任务的需求”。
“马林部长100%专注于确保满足本部门的需求，同时尽可能当好纳税人资金的管家，”国土安全部在另一份发给CNN的声明中表示。
组建机队
多位航空业消息人士表示，从这项计划启动之初，他们就认为该计划“疯狂”，并称“永远不会成功”。一些消息人士要求匿名，因为他们未获授权公开发言，而另一些提供行业视角的人士则希望避免可能招致白宫的不良反应。
“航空业有句老话：成为百万富翁最快的方式，就是以亿万富翁的身份尝试创办一家航空公司，”一位行业资深人士告诉CNN，并援引了一则关于创业风险和高昂启动成本的笑话。
去年12月，在国土安全部评估执行该计划所需条件时，该机构发布了一份公开信息征集请求，内容包括“包机航空公司运营飞机的观点和规划考量”——本质上是在询问执行遣返这类任务的机队运营需要满足哪些要求。
信息征集请求的截止日期为1月初。
一位熟悉国土安全部信息征集请求的航空行业内部人士质疑该机构是否充分考虑了该计划，并指出该机构在寻求行业反馈的同时就开始采购飞机。
“他们在搞清楚如何运营这些飞机以及/或者运营成本之前就买下了飞机，”该内部人士说道。
另一位前移民和海关执法局官员将整个计划描述为类似于“一边飞行一边建造飞机”。
2026年3月6日，一架新近用于遣返航班的国土安全部飞机在弗吉尼亚州杜勒斯国际机场被拍到。
CNN
据CNN查阅的记录显示，国土安全部的机队包括8架波音737客机——这是美国国内航空运输的主力机型，也是全球使用最广泛的商用飞机之一——以及2架湾流喷气式飞机。所有飞机均从代达罗斯公司购买，该公司是一家私人飞机企业，在移民业务领域相对较新。
前移民和海关执法局官员表示，该机构过去也曾考虑过购置飞机的想法，但从未付诸实施，原因在于运营机队带来的种种复杂性以及必须纳入联邦预算的相关成本。
“非常棘手的一点是，一旦你拥有了飞机，就必须对其进行维护、加油、配备飞行员和机组人员，所有这些都需要成本，”这位前移民和海关执法局官员告诉CNN。“你现在或许能买下飞机，但长期来看，你如何为人员配备以及所有相关的配套支持和服务提供资金？”
尽管国土安全部表示计划由承包商运营其机队（至少在最初阶段），但航空行业资深人士表示，多家负责执行遣返航班的大型包机运营商需要获得监管机构的授权，才能驾驶该部门采购的波音737客机，这一过程可能需要数月时间。他们还可能需要雇佣并培训能够驾驶该机型的飞行员，这同样需要成本。
一位知情人士表示，当前包机遣返航班的合同模式是主要的成本驱动因素——一家公司作为经纪商，随后将航班分包给多家包机航空公司。当计算每一层级的利润和间接费用时，“成本就变得极高”，该人士说道。
根据移民和海关执法局的最新数据，包机航班的平均每飞行小时成本接近7000美元至27000美元不等。这一费用包括飞机和燃油成本，以及机组人员、安保人员、机上医疗人员和其他费用。
斥资数百万购置飞机
今年1月，美国管理和预算办公室将国土安全部“运输和驱逐”相关预算增加5000万美元，总额达到2.02亿美元，并补充了一条脚注，称部分资金“仅可用于拨付移民和海关执法局此前向预算办公室汇报的5架波音737-700飞机的采购”。
到3月时，该项目的预算已增至4.645亿美元，更新后的脚注表明，新资金将部分用于购置8架波音737客机和2架湾流G-650喷气式飞机。
此次采购——包括一架价值7000万美元的豪华波音737客机，配备床铺、厨房和吧台——引发了行业专家和国会立法者的质疑。
参议员谢尔顿·怀特豪斯在今年早些时候的一场听证会上质询诺姆，要求她回应批评人士称购买该豪华客机是滥用联邦资金的说法。
诺姆表示，该部门将其用于“指挥和控制”飞行，并重申为遣返和公务出行购置飞机将为纳税人节省资金。
据报道，国土安全部同意支付1.4亿美元购买首批飞机。一位知情人士表示，该部门在这一阶段购置了5架波音737客机。
一些行业专家认为该部门可能支付了高于市场的价格，并指出平均每架飞机的成本高达2800万美元。
航空行业分析网站ch-aviation的一项独立市场分析显示，国土安全部购置的7架波音737客机（不包括豪华客机）总价值为8400万美元，即平均每架约1200万美元。另一份提供给CNN的评估报告则认为每架飞机的平均价值为2100万美元。
这些评估基于每架飞机尾号对应的行业数据以及关于飞机状况和维护情况的标准假设。ch-aviation还指出，其估算并未考虑对维护记录的审查或对飞机的实物检查。
国土安全部未回应有关市场分析的相关问题。
尽管该机构的专属机队尚未用于遣返行动，但人权第一组织——一个跟踪相关数据的非营利组织——的报告显示，该机构使用包机航班执行的遣返航班数量以及目的地国家数量均有所增加。
该组织发现，上个月共有245架次驱逐航班——这是该组织自2020年开始跟踪数据以来的月度最高纪录。
CNN的普里西拉·阿尔瓦雷斯和亚伦·库珀为本报道贡献了采访内容。
DHS says its new deportation planes are almost ready for takeoff. Critics doubt the plan will work
2026-05-16 6:00 AM ET / CNN
By René Marsh, Audrey Ash
PUBLISHED May 16, 2026, 6:00 AM ET
A Department of Homeland Security aircraft, recently acquired for deportation flights, is seen at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on March 6. This plane is part of the agency’s new fleet for deportations.
CNN
A long-abandoned proposal at the Department of Homeland Security – one so ambitious the agency had never gone through with it before – was revived under the leadership of then-Secretary Kristi Noem.
Officials spent tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to buy the department its own fleet of aircraft and started laying the groundwork for shifting away from relying on charter airline companies for deportation flights, as it had for decades. Ultimately, they planned to start their own mini airline to help execute President Donald Trump’s aim to deport 1 million undocumented immigrants a year.
Now DHS tells CNN exclusively it plans to start using the planes for deportation flights soon – using contractors to operate the planes – after new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin reevaluated the plan. Mullin, who replaced Noem in March, had undertaken an agency-wide review of contracts signed during her tenure.
“We anticipate we will be able to integrate these planes into our deportation efforts in the coming weeks,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
Under Noem, DHS officials argued the move would save taxpayers $280 million, in part by allowing the department to fly more efficient routes, though they didn’t give a timeframe for those savings.
Kristi Noem, then the Homeland Security Secretary, testifies at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 3.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters
But some current and former DHS officials, as well as aviation industry sources, question whether the unprecedented endeavor will be viable over the long-term and deliver the promised savings. Some critics point to industry data that suggests the department may have paid more than market value for at least some of the planes.
“It’s hard to see this as anything but a waste of public money,” an aviation industry executive told CNN.
DHS purchased 10 planes between January and March of this year, records show. The fleet has largely sat idle since then – in some cases, for months – at a maintenance facility in Louisiana, according to a source with knowledge of the matter and publicly available flight tracking data.
While some of the aircraft were used for evacuation flights in the early days of the Iran war, none have been used for deportations.
William Walters, the CEO of Daedalus Aviation, the company that sold the aircraft to DHS, told CNN they were sold at cost plus overhead, including the cost of retrofitting the passenger planes for immigration purposes.
Walters and DHS declined to provide a breakdown of the costs of the planes.
The DHS spokesperson said the planes will provide “vital support” to immigration enforcement but that “any decisions related to the purchase of these planes were made prior to the change in DHS leadership.”
The department added that while Mullin and his team worked with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to “assess the operation plan for utilizing these aircraft,” the planes have been “undergoing maintenance and safety checks as well as any necessary make-ready modifications to meet the need of the deportation mission.”
“Secretary Mullin is 100% focused on ensuring the needs of our Department are met while being the best possible steward of taxpayer dollars,” DHS said in another statement to CNN.
Building the fleet
From the beginning of this endeavor, several aviation sources said they thought the plan was “crazy” and said it would “never work.” Some of the sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, while others offering an industry perspective wanted to avoid potential fallout from the White House.
“There’s an old saying in aviation: The fastest way to become a millionaire is to be a billionaire who tries to start an airline,” one industry veteran told CNN, citing a joke about the risks and high startup costs.
Last December, as DHS was assessing what it would take to carry out its plan, the agency issued a public request seeking a wide range of information, including “perspectives and planning considerations” for operating aircraft from charter airline companies –— essentially, asking what is required to operate a fleet for a mission like deportations.
The request for information had a deadline of early January.
One aviation industry insider familiar with DHS’ request for information wondered whether the agency had fully thought through its plan, noting it was purchasing aircraft around the same time it was still seeking industry input.
“They bought the aircraft before they figured out how to operate them and/or what the cost to operate them would be,” the insider said.
Another source, a former ICE official, described the entire effort as akin to “building the plane while they’re flying it.”
A Department of Homeland Security aircraft, recently acquired for deportation flights, is seen at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on March 6.
CNN
The DHS fleet consists of eight Boeing 737s – a workhorse of US domestic travel and among the most widely used commercial planes in the world – and two Gulfstream jets, according to records reviewed by CNN. All were purchased from Daedalus, a private aircraft company and a relative newcomer to the immigration business.
Former ICE officials said the agency considered the idea of buying planes in the past but never moved forward because of the complications that come with operating a fleet and the costs that would have to be baked into the federal budget.
“What’s very difficult is that once you own the aircraft, you have to maintain them, fueling, staffing them with pilots and flight crews and all of that comes at a cost,” the former ICE official told CNN. “You may be able to buy the planes now, but how are you funding the staffing and all the wraparound support and services that are required long-term?”
While DHS says it plans for contractors to fly its fleet, at least initially, aviation industry veterans say several major charter operators that fly deportation flights would need to get regulatory authorization to fly the 737s purchased by the department, which can take several months. They’d also likely need to hire and train pilots to fly that model, and that comes at a cost.
The source with knowledge of the matter said the current contracting model for chartered deportation flights is a major cost driver – with one company acting as a broker and then subcontracting flights to multiple charter airlines. When the profit and overhead for each layer are factored in, “that gets super expensive,” the source said
According to the most recent data, a charter flight costs an average of almost $7,000 per flight hour to nearly $27,000, according to ICE. That includes the aircraft and fuel as well as the flight crew, security personnel, an onboard medical professional and other fees.
Millions allotted for planes
In January, the Office of Management and Budget increased DHS funding for “transportation and removal” by $50 million to $202 million, adding a footnote that a portion of those funds were “available for obligation solely for the purchase of the five Boeing 737-700 aircraft which ICE has previously briefed to OMB.”
By March, the budget for that line had increased to $464.5 million, with an updated footnote indicating the new funds would be used in part to purchase eight Boeing 737s and two Gulfstream G-650 jets.
The purchases – including a $70 million luxury 737 jet complete with a bed, kitchen and bar – raised eyebrows among industry experts and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse grilled Noem during a hearing earlier this year, asking her to respond to critics who said the luxury jet’s purchase was an abuse of federal funds.
She said the department used it for “command and control” flights and reiterated that the purchase of planes for deportations and official travel would save taxpayers money.
DHS reportedly agreed to pay $140 million to buy the initial tranche of planes. The source with knowledge of the matter said the department bought five 737s at this stage.
Some industry experts suggest the department may have paid above market value, noting that would work out to an average of $28 million each.
One independent market analysis from ch-aviation shows that the seven 737s that DHS purchased, not including the luxury jet, have a combined value of $84 million – or roughly $12 million each on average. Another analysis provided to CNN valuated them at an average of $21 million each.
The assessments are based on industry figures for each plane’s tail number and standard assumptions about condition and maintenance. Ch-aviation also noted its estimate doesn’t reflect a review of maintenance records or a physical inspection of the aircraft.
DHS did not respond to questions about the market analyses.
While the agency’s own fleet hasn’t been used for deportations yet, there has been an increase in those flights with the agency using charter flights – and in the number of destination countries, according to Human Rights First, a nonprofit that tracks that information.
The group found there were 245 removal flights last month – a monthly record since it began tracking them in 2020.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez and Aaron Cooper contributed to this reporting.