DHS-Owned 737 Fleet Flies First Deportation Missions to Mexico

A Boeing 737-700 owned by the Department of Homeland Security flew two removal flights from Texas to Mexico this week, the first time the department has used its own fleet to deport people. Publicly available flight-tracking data and Human Rights First, the nonprofit that monitors deportation flights, confirmed the trips on Wednesday and Thursday.

The flights mark a turning point for seven 737s DHS acquired early this year from Avelo Airlines, jets bought to power President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign under then-Secretary Kristi Noem. Until now, the aircraft had done almost nothing.

Why was the fleet sitting idle?

The numbers tell the story. Since April 2026, each of the DHS-owned jets had logged fewer than five domestic flights, according to data from ADS-B Exchange, the global aircraft tracker. For a department that promised an expanded deportation operation, that is barely a proof-of-concept pace.

The department normally charters removal flights through contract aviation companies. When it bought the seven ex-Avelo 737s, DHS argued that a government-owned fleet would cut its reliance on those contractors and let the administration scale up removals.

Critics never bought the case. They pointed to the agency's sprawling network of charter airlines, its access to military aircraft and the option of commercial flights as evidence that ownership added cost without adding capacity.

DHS did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

What changed this week?

Two trips, two days. A single DHS-owned 737-700 crossed from Texas into Mexico on Wednesday and again on Thursday, converting a dormant asset into an operational one for the first time.

The timing matters. The flights come months after the department, now run by former Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, began probing the market for alternatives to direct operation. In July, DHS solicited information from potential contractors on how they would run deportation operations and other missions — including flights for senior department officials.

By September, the department had a different idea for part of the fleet. A contracting notice said DHS wanted to repurpose four of the 737s for Congressional delegations and other VIP trips. The notice left the fate of the remaining three aircraft unspecified.

Where does the money question stand?

The aircraft's uncertain status has kept pressure on a broader issue: how DHS has spent the billions of dollars Congress approved last year to fund Trump's immigration enforcement agenda. Buying seven airliners and parking them is the kind of expenditure that invites scrutiny, and the September VIP-conversion plan only sharpened it.

This week's flights to Mexico may answer part of the operational question — the jets can do the job — but they do not resolve whether owning the fleet beats chartering it. Two removal missions against months of idleness is a thin record, and the department has yet to publish any cost or utilization figures that would let outside analysts compare its 737s with the contractor network they were meant to ease.

The next signal to watch is whether more of the seven jets follow this aircraft into removal service, or whether the September plan to convert four of them into VIP transports holds — which would leave the department's flagship deportation fleet flying, mostly, members of Congress.