OBP005665

From: (b) (6)

To: (b) (6) ; SELF, JEFFREY D
Subject: FW: AAR for EA open house meeting
Date: Friday, February 29, 2008 3:38:13 PM
Attachments: (b) (6)

AAR for TI in EL Paso AOR. No problems all went well. ACPA (b) was sent this directly from EPT.
(6)

From: (b) (6)

Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 3:24 PM
To: (b) (6) B.
Cc: (b) (6)

Subject: FW: AAR for EA open house meeting

All,

Please see the attached After Action Report completed for the open house held in El
Paso on February 28, 2008.

Thanks,

(b) (6)

From: (b) (6)

Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 11:37 AM
To: (b) (6)
Subject: AAR for EA open house meeting

Sir,
Attached is the after action report for yesterday’s open house meeting. It is also included in plain text.

Environmental Assessment (EA) Public Open House Meeting

Ambassador Ballroom, El Paso, Texas
February 28, 2008, 4:30 p.m.
AAR# 02-08-006

· On February 28, 2008, the El Paso Sector SBInet Office, in conjunction with E2M,
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and Gulf South Research Company
(GSRC), held an Environmental Assessment (EA) open house meeting at the
Ambassador Ballroom, located at 10921 Pellicano Drive in El Paso, Texas. The
purpose of the open house meeting was to allow the public to register comments and
document environmental concerns regarding a draft Environmental Assessment (EA)
for proposed tactical infrastructure projects in the El Paso, Ysleta, Fabens, and Fort
Hancock Border Patrol Station Areas of Responsibility (AORs). The meeting had
received publicity via local print and television media.

· The meeting commenced at 4:30 p.m. and was initiated with a brief presentation by
(b) (6) Deputy Director of the SBI Project Management Office (PMO). The
OBP005666

presentation outlined the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and briefly
described the planned projects in the aforementioned areas. This brief presentation
was repeated periodically throughout the evening.

· There were approximately 45 protestors from the “No Border Wall Coalition” present
outside the venue. The protestors were well organized and non-combative. The
protestors erected a mock fence on the property adjacent to the ballroom with a sign
that read, “Honk for no border fence”. The mock wall drew little interest from the public.

· The large ballroom was separated into three (3) sections using curtain partitions. In
the main section, there were several posters mounted on easels briefly describing the
projects and NEPA process. Border Patrol station leaders were available in these
areas to address operational concerns from the public. Respective experts included in
the EA, such as biologists, fish and wildlife experts, and the US Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE) were also available to address any concerns with the EA.

· The next smaller section was partitioned to allow the public to officially register
comments on the EA. A stenographer was contracted to facilitate this, and two
interpreters were also available. The last section provided the opportunity for media to
conduct interviews. Customs and Border Protection Office of Public Affairs (OPA) and
El Paso Sector Public Information Office were both available for interviews.

· Several media outlets were present for approximately 2 hours and conducted
interviews with private citizens, El Paso Sector PIO, and CBP OPA. Television
affiliates on scene were local Channel 9 (NBC), local Channel 7 (ABC), local Channel 4
(CBS), and local Channel 26 (Spanish). Print media present at the event included the
El Paso Times, El Diario, and the Associated Press (AP).

· There was a brief heated, yet civilized debate between a protestor and a proponent
of the border fence. Throughout the evening, the public was actively engaged in
dialogue with the respective EA experts and Border Patrol agents.

· In attendance and representing State Representative Chente Quintanilla’s Office

was Robert Grijalva. Sal Payan, the representative from Congressman Silvestre Reyes’
Office, and Father Arturo J. Banuelas of the Catholic Diocese of El Paso were also
present. County Commissioner Veronica Escobar and City Representative Steve
Ortega were present in support of the protestors, but they did not enter the meeting.

· Representing the Border Patrol were Assistant Chief Patrol Agent (ACPA) (b)
(6)
, Office of Border Patrol, and ACPA (b) (6) El Paso Sector. Special
Operations Supervisor (SOS) (b) (6) and members of the El Paso Sector
SBInet Team were also present. The following station representatives were in
attendance: El Paso Border Patrol Station-Acting Patrol Agent in Charge (PAIC)
(b) (6) , SOS (b) (6) and Supervisory Border Patrol Agent (SBPA)
(b) (6) . Ysleta Border Patrol Station-Acting PAIC (b) (6) Acting
Assistant Patrol Agent in Charge (APAIC) (b) (6) Acting SOS (b) (6)
SBPA (b) (6) and SBPA (b) (6) . Fabens Border Patrol Station-PAIC
OBP005667

(b) (6) APAIC (b) (6) SOS (b) (6) SBPA (b) (6)
and Senior Patrol Agent (SPA) (b) (6) . Fort Hancock Border Patrol Station-
PAIC (b) (6) and APAIC (b) (6)

· The EA open house meeting was successful. There were approximately 75 people
in attendance. There were a total of 57 people who signed in. There were 36 people
that registered comments. Of those, 15 were recorded electronically through the
stenographer, 16 comments were hand-written in English, and 5 were hand-written in
Spanish.

· Security for the event was provided by two (2) uniformed officers from the El Paso
Police Department (EPPD), which was contracted via the ballroom rental. There were
no reports of any incidents.

· A Significant Incident Report (SIR) was completed due to media interest.

(Reference (b) (6) .
OBP005668

Mock fence erected by protestors, approximately 16 ft. in height.

(b) (6)
Supervisory Border Patrol Agent
El Paso Sector SBInet
8901 Montana Avenue
El Paso, TX 79925
Blackberry (b) (6)
(b) (6)