Assistant Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Director Tricia McLaughlin is flaming the Washington Post for leaving out of its reporting that the government will save $279 million by operating its own fleet of planes used to deport illegal migrants.
McLaughlin responded on Wednesday to an X comment by the Post’s Dan Eggen who was touting the paper’s report that DHS has contracted with suppliers to raise its own fleet of Boeing 737s to ferry deported migrants back to their home countries. Eggen also noted that up to now, DHS has relied on charter companies to supply the flights.
But nowhere did the Post story mention the DHS cost-benefit analysis that assembling its own fleet of planes will save the government millions of dollars.
In her X reply to Eggen, McLaughlin wrote, “*Somehow* the @washingtonpost forgot to include anywhere in their story that this new initiative will save the U.S. taxpayer $279 MILLION. I guess they didn’t want the public to know?”
“These planes will allow ICE to operate more effectively, including by using more efficient flight patterns,” McLaughlin added. “President Trump and @Sec_Noem are committed to quickly and efficiently getting criminal illegal aliens OUT of our country.”
The paper’s story reported that DHS is planning to put $140 million towards purchasing six Boeing 737 airplanes to use for deportations.
ICE, which has responsibility for deportations, has always relied on charter companies but officials are now preparing to increase repatriation flights and that prospect will become increasingly expensive if DHS continues to rely on outside airlines.
The article included McLaughlin’s quote that the new fleet of planes would save money “by allowing ICE to operate more effectively, including by using more efficient flight patterns.”
However, it appears that the Post did not include McLaughlin’s estimation that the savings could amount to $279 million.
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