ICE-branded vehicles parked at the U.S. Capitol on August 13.
Photo: Andrew Leyden/Getty Images
ICE is now flush with taxpayer cash thanks to the roughly $75 billion in additional funding the agency received from President Trump and the GOP’s new megabill, making Immigration and Customs Enforcement the most well-funded federal law enforcement agency in the country. Now, it is trying to use that money on some brand-new rides.
The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration wants to spend millions on new ICE SUVs with custom gold-detailed auto wraps as a way to increase its visibility during Trump’s D.C. takeover and to help with the agency’s massive recruitment drive:
Government contracting documents made public this week show the agency proposed paying four companies more than $2.4 million: $2.25 million for 25 Chevrolet Tahoes from Hendrick Motorsports in North Carolina and about $174,000 for custom wrapping of Tahoes, Ford Expeditions and other vehicles by three companies, including two in the Washington region. ICE selected the companies without an open bidding process and was required to submit the documents to justify the lack of a full and open competition.
In the documents pertaining to the three vehicle-wrapping companies, the agency describes the need for the wraps as urgent and “essential for officers to provide support and a law enforcement presence in DC.” The agency also mentions “making the District of Columbia one of the safest cities in the world.”
They also want to buy some Ford Mustang GTs, Raptors, and GMC Yukon AT4s as part of a nearly $700,000 expenditure to support recruiting:
ICE wrote in the documents that the Mustangs were “an immediate request by the White House, on Thursday August 7, 2025.” The Mustangs — which are set to cost $121,450 — will aid in recruitment “by serving as a bold, high-performance symbol of innovation, strength and modern federal service,” the documents say.
DHS and ICE have already literally rolled out a few decal-wrapped ICEmobiles in D.C. and used footage of them on the streets in recruitment marketing on social media. The vehicles are emblazoned with gold ICE logos and the phrase Defend the homeland. The custom detailing also includes the words integrity, courage, and endurance on the rear bumper.
Spending millions on flashy vehicles is also sort of off-brand for ICE, since in its actual operations, the agency has become notorious for hiding its identity. Almost every time you see footage of ICE doing anything these days, it’s guys wearing full face masks and ad hoc tactical uniforms traveling around in unmarked vehicles and refusing to identify themselves.
In this sense, featuring the new ICEmobiles in a recruiting pitch is false advertising if recruits will never actually drive or ride in them. It would be more honest to slap terrifying, anonymous, and unaccountable on the bumpers.
The ICE vehicles’ color scheme and detailing also hold more than a passing resemblance to Trump’s crappy private jet:
Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Images via Getty Images
And speaking of planes, ICE wants to spend way, way more to start its own airline, NBC News reports:
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is pushing for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use an influx of funds to buy, own and operate its own fleet of airplanes to deport immigrants, two sources familiar with the discussions told NBC News. Former officials said that ICE owning and maintaining its own planes would be costly but could make it easier for the agency to potentially double the number of people it deports each month.
ICE uses charter planes to deport immigrants and has done so for years. The agency has typically chartered eight to 14 planes at a time for deportation flights, according to Jason Houser, who served as ICE chief of staff from 2022 to 2023. He said that allowed the Biden administration to deport roughly 15,000 immigrants per month on charter flights.
Setting up ICE Air would cost billions:
It can cost $80 million to $400 million to buy a commercial airliner, according to aviation experts at the Pilot Institute, a company that trains pilots. Purchasing 30 passenger jets at that price range could cost $2.4 billion to $12 billion, but it’s unclear if ICE could lower the price per plane by buying a large number of them … Charter companies are also responsible for maintaining the planes and making sure they comply with Federal Aviation Administration rules. If Noem creates the first ICE air fleet, the agency would then be responsible for staffing the planes with pilots, medics and security, as well as maintaining them and ensuring they comply with aviation regulations.
It’s not clear whether this would save ICE money in the near or long term. NBC reports that according to one tracker, the agency chartered more than 1,000 charter flights through the end of July, and those flights typically cost about $25,000 per hour. And while the Trump administration would undoubtedly love to deport 30,000 people a month, it’s not at all clear that it will be able to do so, or for how long.
But even if ICE having its own airline ended up being a huge waste of taxpayer money, it’s hard to imagine Trump caring about that. He loves planes and symbolic branding opportunities almost as much as he loves the idea of turning deportation into America’s new pastime. And he’s already moving forward with the ill-advised idea of converting a jumbo jet Qatar didn’t want into the new Air Force One (which could cost $1 billion), while also trying to reopen Alcatraz (a potential waste of $2 billion). Plus, this week, he and Noem started having workers paint the southern border wall black so it would be hotter to the touch (during the day):
Trump is now planning ride-alongs with his federal forces on patrol in D.C. Could a new ICE-branded Beast towing migrants in a gold cage be far behind?
