As federal officials express concern over precious resources to deal with a border crisis, and persistently maintaining airport safety, the Department of Homeland Security is spending more than $450,000 on employee gym memberships.
A TSA agent watches an xray monitor while screening luggage at a special TSA Pre-check lane at Terminal C of the LaGuardia Airport on January 27, 2014 in New York City. John Moore/Getty Images
And it's not for frontline agents, but mostly for desk employees at Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Washington and for Transportation Security Administration employees in Arizona, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced it bought 236 gym memberships to Vida Fitness at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, which the Free Beacon reported offered “aura spa,” “luxurious locker rooms” and a “penthouse pool and lounge.”
The gym memberships for ICE employees cost the taxpayers $400,000 over two fiscal years.
A primary reason for choosing Vida was its proximity, according to documents cited by the Free Beacon that said, “This 1/10 (.10) mile walking distance is a critical requirement, in that participating employees will be able to utilize the facilities primarily during the mid-day lunch period, making the location/distance of the facility a vital consideration.”
The TSA spent $52,650 on gym memberships at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, covering the cost of between 10 and 75 employees, according to the Free Beacon.
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