Ben Rohrbaugh

Ben Rohrbaugh is a Policy Editor with BIG_Lab and a Senior Fellow in the Central America and Mexico Policy Initiative at the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law. He is the co-founder of Lantern Unmanned Autonomous Systems, LLC, which develops systems to scan cargo containers using aerial drones, and a partner at the consulting and training firm New Macro Risks. He was previously a Senior Advisor in the Department of Homeland Security Office of Policy. From 2014 to 2016, he served as the Director for Enforcement and Border Security at the National Security Council in the White House, where he coordinated policy on Central American migration, border management with Mexico and Canada, supply chain security, and cross-border infrastructure.

Previously he worked as a Senior Advisor to the Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, where he handled engagement on customs, migration, and security cooperation with the Government of Mexico and negotiated the first entirely privately financed border crossing. Prior to this, Ben was Counselor to the Special Representative for Border Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, where he focused on border management, cross-border infrastructure, and communications interoperability. He also served as the Director for National Security within the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, where he was responsible for political appointments within the Departments of Homeland Security, State, and Defense, and international development organizations.