BLET leadership traveled to the southern U.S. border in Texas in late-May.
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In a June 2 letter, BLET National President Mark Wallace asked U.S. President Donald J. Trump to take “immediate and decisive action” to help protect national security and American rail jobs at the Southern U.S. border with Mexico.
President Wallace explained how the Union Pacific and other Class I railroads are moving to replace American locomotive engineers with Mexican national train crews to operate trains across the Southern Border, particularly in Texas, and potentially expanding into New Mexico and Arizona. This is work previously performed by U.S.-based train crews represented by BLET.
“This issue goes beyond job displacement. It raises serious national security concerns,” President Wallace wrote. “Recently, a Mexican national employed by Ferromex — the very company Union Pacific intends to partner with — was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for smuggling migrants across the border by train. American train crews serve as a vital line of defense, providing an additional layer of scrutiny as trains cross into our territory.”
President Wallace had two specific requests for President Trump:
1. Instruct the U.S. Department of Transportation to prohibit the use of Mexican train crews within the United States, except those who are American citizens or lawful permanent residents.
2. Direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to require that all trains entering from Mexico stop at the border, where American crews can assume operation and cease negotiating these terms with the railroads.
BLET’s outreach to the White House comes in conjunction with a recently-launched campaign to make members of Congress aware of the situation. Under that campaign, more than 6,000 messages have been sent to members of the U.S. House and Senate. The highest number of messages have been sent to Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz.
All BLET members, regardless of where you live or how far from a national border you are, are being asked to visit the Take Action area of the BLET National Division website. Once there, the site will provide guidance on how you and other BLET activists can connect with the appropriate member of Congress including and, with a few clicks, send a message pushing back against these job and safety giveaways.
Click here to take action.