OBP005138

From: SELF, JEFFREY D

To: (b) (6)
Subject: FW: Article on Levee Meeting
Date: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 8:17:04 AM
Attachments: (b) (6)

Chief should know about this.

From: FLOSSMAN, LOREN W

Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 7:29 AM
To: (b) (6)
Cc: SELF, JEFFREY D; GIDDENS, GREGORY; VITIELLO, RONALD D; ADAMS, ROWDY D
Subject: RE: Article on Levee Meeting

See my responses in the article -

From: (b) (6)

Sent: Wednesday, February 27, 2008 6:25 AM
To: FLOSSMAN, LOREN W; VITIELLO, RONALD D
Cc: SELF, JEFFREY D; GIDDENS, GREGORY
Subject: Article on Levee Meeting
Importance: High

Good morning.

Attached is a copy of the Rio Grande Guardian article about yesterday’s meeting with Cameron
County.

The focus of the article is that Judge Cascos originally intended to have this be a public meeting, but
that the Border Patrol influenced him into making it a private meeting.

Before today’s hearing, we need to know a few more facts. I have inserted a few points in blue, and a
few questions in red.

1. Ron and Loren, did either SBI or the Sector request that the meeting be held in private? While
I’m sure it was not appropriate to have this be a public meeting, my question is whether we
made the demands the Judge said we did. I can’t speak to the conversations with the Judge –
my input was that a public meeting was not a productive forum for what was wanted to be
accomplished – i.e. here Cameron Co proposal to build a wall/levee and understand what would
be needed to get to the proposal - i.e. a board meeting – The county needs to discuss their
proposal with their stakeholders -

From my vantage point I thought is was a very productive meeting – The Chief and the Judge
set the stage and there was a good dialogue which will mostly likely result in moving the fence
30+ feet closer the levee and change a permanent to a floating fence which will help the city of
Brownsville - We also provided the UTB with a clearer picture to the fence alignment - there
seemed to be a better understanding and a degree of acceptance that the impact was as
significant as they believed -

2. Loren, does the March 31 deadline that Judge Cascos mentioned meet our timeline
requirements? We evaluate what the Co proposed and the level of commitment to execute the
project. – I have added my comment on the word doc as well - Loren

Please feel free to add any additional insight into the Word file or provide comments via e-mail.
OBP005139

Thanks for your quick response.

(b) (6)
Secure Border Initiative
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(b) (6)
For more information about the Secure Border Initiative, visit www.cbp.gov/sbi or contact us at SBI_info@dhs.gov.