Congress moves to strip labor protections from millions of immigrant workers

What it does

This bill amends the National Labor Relations Act to make it legal for employers to refuse to hire or employ unauthorized immigrants, and for unions to refuse to represent them for collective bargaining purposes. It creates a safe harbor: employers and unions that use the federal E-Verify system to check immigration status face no legal liability for these employment decisions, and firing an unauthorized worker cannot be used as evidence of anti-union animus.

Why we flagged it

The bill functionally strips workplace protections and union representation from a class of workers (unauthorized immigrants) by amending the National Labor Relations Act to exclude them from unfair labor practice coverage. It is framed as a worker-protection measure but operates as a labor-rights carve-out.

What the text implies

• Employers gain legal cover to discharge unauthorized workers without fear of unfair labor practice claims, even if the real motive is union-busting or retaliation for organizing activity.
• The E-Verify safe harbor may incentivize mass verification campaigns that disproportionately target workers of color or with accents, creating a chilling effect on union organizing in immigrant-heavy industries.
• Unions lose leverage to represent and protect a significant portion of the workforce in agriculture, construction, hospitality, and food processing, fragmenting labor standards across sectors.
• The bill does not require employers to verify status uniformly or transparently, creating potential for selective enforcement and discrimination against workers perceived as foreign.

Who it affects

Unauthorized immigrants lose workplace protections and union representation rights, weakening labor standards for a vulnerable population and potentially depressing wages and working conditions for all workers in affected sectors. The bill also creates a legal pathway for employers to discriminate based on immigration status without union recourse, reducing worker bargaining power.

Who stands to gain

• labor-intensive industries (agriculture, construction, hospitality, food processing)
• employers in sectors with high unauthorized worker concentration
• companies seeking to reduce labor organizing pressure

Named in the bill

National Labor Relations Act, Immigration and Nationality Act Section 274A, E-Verify system, unauthorized aliens, labor organizations, employers

Where it stands

4 cosponsors: 4 Republicans.

• Nov 19, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Nov 19, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $489,143 in lobbying spend. A filing names 69 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Jim Banks, the sponsor, reported $559,626 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• International Brotherhood of Teamsters — $489,143 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.