Distinguished Speaker: Chappell Lawson

January 14, 2025, 11:00-12:00 CST

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Chappell Lawson is an Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT. Professor Lawson’s recent work has focused on homeland security policy, Mexican politics, the effect of candidates’ physical appearance on their electoral success, and political leadership.

From September 2009 through February 2011, Professor Lawson was on leave from MIT as a political appointee in the Obama Administration, serving as Executive Director and Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Before joining the MIT faculty, he served briefly as a Director of Inter-American Affairs on the National Security Council staff during the Clinton Administration.

Professor Lawson was a National Fellow at The Hoover Institution, Stanford University (2002-2003) and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies at the University of California, San Diego (1998-99). He received his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1999 and his AB from Princeton (the Woodrow Wilson School) in 1989.

Speaker presentation

Initial Findings from the MPI/MIT Borders of the Future Project

U.S. Customs and Border Protection confronts a different world than it did at the time of its creation more than two decades ago: a changing threat landscape, the growing salience of trade-related violations, and technological innovations that have opened up opportunities for radical changes in border management. In this project, we describe the optimal response to these changes and lay out a broad road map. 

Key elements in the cargo domain include: 

1. Full visibility by CBP into firms’ foreign supply chains, with appropriate mechanisms to ensure that the information CBP receives is accurate and sufficiently descriptive;
2. A more sophisticated, automated targeting apparatus;
3. Greatly expanded non-intrusive inspection (NII) of shipments, across all modes;
4. The creation of trusted networks that deliver greater security, reliability, and resilience throughout the GSS; and 
5. A true “processed once” regime within North America.

In the passenger domain, key elements include:

1. A secure electronic passport allowing for touchless, paperless, automated identity verification;
2. Full deployment of facial comparison systems;
3. More extensive advanced and real-time information as travelers move through the system, and the ability to fuse this data rapidly for the purpose of risk assessment and adjudication;
4. Biometric entry and exit, including a processed once regime with trusted partners;
5. A new partnership with the public on privacy, premised on CBP’s ability to protect personal data and to communicate transparently about its operations; and
6. A well-crafted approach to pandemics, emphasizing risk mitigation based on passenger origin and exploiting (voluntarily provided) health information, rather than closing borders.