The Path to Settlement between University of Texas Brownsville and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

As president of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, which sits adjacent to the border with mexico, I have spent the past eighteen months responding to plans by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to divide our campus with an 18-feet-high fence. I have outlined in the attached document the long and difficult battle we faced, as well as the solution upon which we ultimately agreed. I believe our experience demonstrates that reasonable alternatives exist to the construction of the fence proposed by the government. Indeed, the federal judge who presided over our case proposed that our original settlement with DHS, which required DHS to consult with the university to reach a mutually agreed-upon solution, be used as a model for other property owners along the border.