Dr. Muller discusses Canada-U.S. border issues with experts at Seattle workshop

Dr. Ben Muller, Program Coordinator for King's Minor in Migration and Border Studies, presented at a professional workshop on Canada-U.S. border issues, hosted by the Canadian Consulate in Seattle, Washington, on April 2, 2025.

The event brought together about 15 attendees, including officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Public Safety Canada, the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, digital ID experts from the private sector, and academics.

“As my research interests on the first 100 days of the Trump presidency are focused squarely on borders and mobility, the opportunity to speak with government officials, advocates, and law enforcement from both sides of the border about the experience of the past few months is invaluable,” Dr. Muller says.

Dr. Muller says that “these research experiences can’t be overstated” in terms of the importance to his role at King’s and his teaching of border and migration issues. He plans to incorporate insights from his conversations into his courses at King’s, where students will work on assignments and active learning projects to address current border challenges, such as issues with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection App "CBP Home." These discussions will also help students explore graduate research and career opportunities in the field of borders and migration.

Dr. Muller notes that the workshop stemmed from the longstanding cooperation across governments, law enforcement, and academia in the Pacific Northwest region, which includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, and British Columbia, also known as "Cascadia." His invitation was also based on his time as a visiting research fellow at the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University.

The workshop focused on two main topics: digital ID and trade transparency. Dr. Muller addressed the challenges and potential of using digital IDs for border crossings at both land and airport entry points. He also discussed issues around enrolment in new apps, the impact on disadvantaged groups who may be excluded from these programs, and concerns about the saturation of trusted traveler programs like NEXUS.

“It was incumbent on me to remind tech proponents that a host of intended and unintended negative consequences accompany the increased use of surveillance and identification technologies to manage borders and mobility, not least, the way these lead to forms of social sorting, often amplifying (the situation of) already precarious groups of people at borders,” says Dr. Muller.

As the participants of the workshop turned to trade transparency, they discussed the harnessing of capacities already in place for managing and monitoring goods and people, to decrease the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies surrounding organized crime and trade-based money laundering.

“The participants were all at a loss as to how the Trump administration's proposed tariff strategy would work practically; simply put, even the lack of infrastructure for collecting tariffs was cited as a notable problem,” says Dr. Muller.

In acknowledging the crisis created by policies from the Trump administration, Dr. Muller feels the current situation harkens back to the post-9/11 era, which harnessed new levels of integration, cooperation and collaboration, and innovative responses to challenges in both mobility and security.

Many of the themes discussed as part of the workshop will figure prominently in his upcoming webinar, Borders ‘trump” Borderlands: Surging Strategies for Borders and Mobility in Trump’s First 100 Days, to be held on April 30, 2025.

The webinar will discuss the sweeping changes brought to U.S. border and immigration policies during the first 100 days of U.S. President’s second presidency. “These rapid shifts – often at odds with the realities of those living in border regions – raise critical questions about enforcement, mobility, and human rights,” says Dr. Muller.

Another of the themes that emerged at the conference was “don’t let a crisis go to waste.” Dr. Muller increasingly views his webinar as being centred around this theme.  “This will allow me to balance the conversation with sober reflections on the current challenges, while maintaining some hope for future directions in the Canada-US border relationship,” he says.