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Protecting American Railroad Workers’ Jobs Act of 2026
To protect the jobs of American railroad workers in cross-border traffic with Mexico, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill requires railroad carriers operating freight trains across the southern border from Mexico to the United States to stop at the border for crew interchange and federal safety testing. After these procedures, only U.S. nationals or aliens lawfully authorized to work in the United States may operate the trains. These individuals must have their primary reporting point in the United States and perform no duties for the railroad carrier while physically outside the country.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Pappas, Chris [D-NH-1] (D-NH)
2 cosponsors
- Rep. Gooden, Lance [R-TX-5] (R-TX)
- Rep. Hunt, Wesley [R-TX-38] (R-TX)
Actions (2)
- Apr 23, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- Apr 23, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 23, 2026
Mr. Pappas (for himself and Mr. Gooden) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To protect the jobs of American railroad workers in cross-border traffic with Mexico, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Protecting American Railroad Workers’ Jobs Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. TRAIN CREW REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.—Subchapter II of chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “Sec. 20172. Border crossings and train crew requirements
“(a) Border Crossings.—The Secretary of Transportation shall require—
“(1) any railroad carrier that is operating a freight train across the southern border into the United States to stop such train at the southern border to conduct a crew interchange and any federally mandated safety testing; and
“(2) the railroad carrier to ensure that the only individuals who operate such trains after carrying out the activities described in paragraph (1) are individuals—
“(A) who are—
“(i) nationals of the United States; or
“(ii) aliens residing in the United States and lawfully authorized to engage in employment in the United States; and
“(B) whose primary reporting point is in the United States and who perform no duties for a railroad carrier while physically outside of the United States.
“(b) Definitions.—In this section:
“(1) Alien; national of the united states.—The terms ‘alien’ and ‘national of the United States’ have the meanings given those terms in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101).
“(2) Southern border.—The term ‘southern border’ means the international border between the United States and Mexico.”.
(b) Clerical Amendment.—The analysis for subchapter II of chapter 201 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
“20172. Border crossings and train crew requirements.”. <all>
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