Little-known Virginia start-up with deal for ICE deportation jets buys up secondhand planes | EUROtoday

On Jan 24, 2026

Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.

An obscure aviation firm that just lately received a $140 million contract to provide the Department of Homeland Security with jets for deportation flights has reportedly begun shopping for up previous planes.

Daedalus Aviation Corp., which received the contract late final yr, has since registered 4 plane, Boeing 737-700 jets beforehand utilized by the low cost provider Avelo, in response to a evaluation of Federal Aviation Administration knowledge by Bloomberg. The jets are between 17 and 22 years previous, the outlet discovered.

The Independent has contacted the corporate for remark.

Daedalus offers “responsive flight operations” for missions starting from “high-tempo government-directed evacuations to sensitive international repatriations,” in response to the corporate’s web site.

“We are delighted to see the media is highlighting the Trump administration’s cost-effective and innovative ways of delivering on the American people’s mandate for mass deportations of criminal illegal aliens,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin informed The Independent in a press release. “This new initiative will save $279 million in taxpayer dollars by allowing ICE to operate more effectively, including by using more efficient flight patterns.”

An obscure Virginia-based aviation company with a contract to supply DHS with deportation planes is reportedly buying up old 737 jets — An obscure Virginia-based aviation firm with a contract to provide DHS with deportation planes is reportedly shopping for up previous 737 jets (AFP by way of Getty Images)

Daedalus, whose take care of DHS comes because the company is amassing its first fleet of government-owned deportation planes, was fashioned in 2024 and led by William Allen Walters III, in response to paperwork from Virginia’s State Corporation Commission, which had been obtained by Bloomberg.

An individual with the identical identify is listed because the chief government of Salus Worldwide Solutions, an organization that received a virtually $1 billion contract in May from DHS to assist the federal government’s program giving flights and different journey providers to migrants who comply with “self-deport.”

The CEO of Salus beforehand served within the State Department throughout the first Trump administration as deputy chief of medical operations, in response to his LinkedIn profile.

Salus had by no means obtained a federal contract earlier than the May deal, and its CEO had beforehand donated to the MAGA-aligned America First Policy Institute and American Resolve, an excellent PAC run by allies of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, The Washington Post reported.

The government uses a mixture of military aircraft, charter jets, and commercial planes for deportation flights, though it is working to assemble its own fleet of government-owned planes — The authorities makes use of a mix of army plane, constitution jets, and industrial planes for deportation flights, although it’s working to assemble its personal fleet of government-owned planes (Getty Images)

A rival contractor challenged the Salus deal in an August federal lawsuit, alleging the corporate received nonpublic info to help in its bid, which Salus denies.

Records obtained by the Post confirmed an official who used to work on the America First Policy Institute helped coordinate competitors for the contract.

DHS informed the paper final yr that its evaluation of the contract course of confirmed “zero indication that there was any wrongdoing on anyone’s part.”

The Independent has contacted Salus for remark.

Deportation flights have been a persistent supply of controversy for the businesses concerned.

Airlines working with DHS have faced boycott threats and criticism from Democratic elected leaders — Airlines working with DHS have confronted boycott threats and criticism from Democratic elected leaders (Getty Images)

Avelo, the corporate that beforehand used the planes registered by Daedalus, served as a DHS subcontractor till just lately. It introduced earlier this yr that it was not conducting deportation flights, citing monetary causes in addition to reportedly speaking concerning the resolution internally as a approach to keep away from “political controversy.”

The firm’s earlier involvement in immigration transport prompted requires a boycott final yr.

Earlier this month, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey wrote to executives at two aviation corporations working with ICE, demanding they stop deportation flights.

“Flying these residents out of state—often within hours of arrest—is intentionally cruel and purposely obstructs the due process and legal representation they are entitled to,” the letter reads. “By contracting with ICE to execute these flights, you are profiting off these anti-American tactics and facilitating the obstruction of due process.”

Dozens of religion leaders had been arrested Friday at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, as native activists protested the Trump administration’s ongoing immigration crackdown within the state, which has included deportation flights out of the state.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/ice-deportation-flight-dhs-contract-b2906805.html