Seth M.M. Stodder

Seth M.M. Stodder is a lawyer and expert on counterterrorism, national/homeland security, immigration/customs/border security, and human rights law and policy issues. He is president and CEO of Palindrome Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm advising public- and private-sector clients on these issues. Before founding Palindrome, he was a lawyer at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as director of policy and planning at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and counselor/senior policy adviser to the CBP commissioner. He served on the Steering Committee for the Department of Homeland Security’s Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR), along with various senior-level DHS officials, and was the lead outside facilitator for the QHSR’s review of U.S. border policy and strategy. In that role, he chaired a study group consisting of senior representatives from DHS and other U.S. government agencies. He continues to advise DHS and other administration officials on border, immigration, customs, and supply chain security policy and strategy.

Mr. Stodder teaches counterterrorism and homeland security law and policy at the University of Southern California Law School. He is also a senior fellow with the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI), a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, serves on the Board of Directors for the National Institute for Hometown Security (NIHS), and periodically lectures at Georgetown University on counterterrorism and homeland security law and policy. He is a 1991 graduate of Haverford College, a 1995 graduate of the University of Southern California Law School, and a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a frequent commentator on national/homeland security, border security, immigration, and legal issues and has published articles in a variety of media and scholarly journals.