1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20229

US. Customs and
Border Protection

Sent via email to: foia@americanoversight.org

August 28, 2018
CBP-2018-079548

Austin Evers
American Oversight
Washington, DC 20005
Dear Mr. Evers:
This is the final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), dated February 26, 2018, and seeking:
1.) All email communications regarding or discussing the construction of a wall,
fence, or other physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border between (a) any
political appointee or career employee detailed to a position eligible to be filled by
a non-career member of the SES and (b) any Member of Congress or
congressional staff.
2.) And, email communications regarding or discussing the construction of a wall,
fence, or other physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border between (a) any
political appointee or career employee detailed to a position eligible to be filled by
a non-career member of the SES and (b) any employee or representative of the
entities listed below:
a) American Action Network (@americanactionnetwork.org)
b) American Enterprise Institute (@aei.org)
c) Americans for Prosperity (@americansforprosperity.org)
d) Americans for Tax Reform (@atr.org)
e) Breitbart News Network (@breitbart.com)
f) Business Roundtable (@businessroundtable.org)
g) ByteCubed (@bytecubed.com)
h) Cato Institute (@cato.org)
i) Center for Immigration Studies (@cis.org)
j) Columbia Group (@columbiagroup.com)
k) Competitive Enterprise Institute (@cei.org)
l) Elaine Duke & Associates (@edukeassociates.com)

 m) Federalist Society (@fed-soc.org)
n) Federation for American Immigration Reform (@fairus.org)
o) Fox News Network (@foxnews.com)
p) Heritage Action for America (@heritageaction.com)
q) Heritage Foundation (@heritage.org)
) Hoover Institution (@hoover.org)
s) Lexington Institute (@lexingtoninstitute.org)
t) MAGA Coalition (@magacoalition.com)
u) Manhattan Institute (@manhattan-institute.org)
v) National Taxpayers Union (@ntu.org)
w) Sunesis Consulting (@sunesisconsultingllc.com)
x) U.S. Chamber of Commerce (@uschamber.org)
y) Wexler Walker (@wexlerwalker.com)
While processing your request, DHS located records that fall under the purview of U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Accordingly, your request and one page of
responsive records were referred to this office for processing and direct response to you.
This office received your request on August 15, 2018.
Upon review of the record, CBP has determined that it is exempt from release pursuant to
Title 5 U.S.C. § 552 (b)(3), Other Disclosure Statutes; specifically, Procurement Integrity
Act; and 41 U.S.C. § 4702(b), Prohibition on release of contractor proposals, therefore
the records will be withheld in full.

This completes the CBP response to your request. You may contact a FOIA Public
Liaison by sending an email via your FOIAonline account, or call 202-325-0150.
If you are not satisfied with the response to this request, you have a right to appeal the
final disposition. Should you wish to do so, you must file your appeal within 90 days of
the date of this letter following the procedures outlined in the DHS regulations at Title 6
C.F.R. §5.9. Please include as much information as possible to help us understand the
grounds for your appeal. You should submit your appeal via FOIAonline by clicking on
the “Create Appeal” button that appears when you view your initial request. If you do
not have computer access, you may send your appeal and a copy of this letter to: FOIA
Appeals, Policy and Litigation Branch, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 90 K Street,
NE, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20229-1177. Your envelope and letter should be
marked "FOIA Appeal." Copies of the FOIA and DHS regulations are available at
www.dhs.gov/foia.

AMERICAN

PVERSIGHT

 Additionally, you have a right to seek dispute resolution services from the Office of
Government Information Services (OGIS) which mediates disputes between FOIA
requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. If you are
requesting access to your own records (which is considered a Privacy Act request), you
should know that OGIS does not have the authority to handle requests made under the
Privacy Act of 1974. You may contact OGIS as follows: Office of Government
Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi
Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov; telephone at
202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.
Please notate file number CBP-2018-079548 on any future correspondence to CBP
related to this request.
Sincerely,

Jodi Drengson
FOIA Analyst, FOIA Division
Office of Diversity and Civil Rights

PVERSIGHT