The Keep Call Centers in America Act: What It Would Mean for Nearshore Customer Service

A plain-language read of S.2495 for CX and compliance leaders, how it differs from the FCC’s onshoring proposal, and what to build into your operation now

Key Takeaways

• The Keep Call Centers in America Act (S.2495, with an identical House bill, H.R. 4954) is a proposal, not law. It was introduced on July 29, 2025, and its only recorded action is referral to committee.
• As written, it would require agents to disclose their physical location, disclose AI use, and transfer any customer who asks to a human agent physically located in the US.
• Nearshore isn’t an exemption. The Dominican Republic is outside the United States under the bill, exactly like the Philippines or India.
• The practical answer is a blended model: nearshore agents for most volume, a documented US-based transfer path, and disclosure scripts you can switch on quickly if the bill or a similar rule advances.

Several of our clients asked the same question this year: if Congress passes the Keep Call Centers in America Act, does our nearshore team in Santo Domingo become a liability? It’s a fair question. The bill has bipartisan sponsors, it touches every company that talks to US consumers by phone, and a separate FCC proposal on offshore call centers landed in 2026 with similar language. Customer experience and compliance leaders don’t want to build a 2027 operating plan on assumptions.

This article reads the bill as introduced, separates what it would do from what people say it does, and compares it with the FCC proposal. Then it lays out a readiness plan that costs little to put in place today. My position is simple: the bill is far from law, but the operating design it points to, with clear disclosure and a real US escalation path, is good customer experience whether it passes or not.

What is the Keep Call Centers in America Act?

The Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025 is a Senate bill, S.2495, introduced on July 29, 2025, by Senators Ruben Gallego and Jim Justice. Its House companion, H.R. 4954, was referred to committee on August 12, 2025. According to Congress.gov, the Senate bill has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, with no further action recorded. Versions of this idea have been introduced in earlier Congresses without passing.

The bill has two halves. Title I deals with employers that move call center work abroad and the federal money they receive. Title II deals with what happens on every customer service call, regardless of where the company is based. That second half is the one most CX leaders should read closely.

What Title I would do

• Advance notice. Covered employers would have to notify the Secretary of Labor at least 120 days before relocating a call center abroad or contracting call center work overseas, with a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per day for failing to do so.
• A public list. The Department of Labor would publish a list of employers that relocate or contract call center work overseas. An employer would stay on it for up to five years per instance unless it brings the work back.
• Federal funding. Employers on the list would become ineligible for new federal grants and guaranteed loans, with exceptions set out in the bill.
• Who counts. An employer is a business with 50 or more full-time call center employees, or 50 or more employees working at least 1,500 hours a week combined. Contracting work overseas means moving at least 30% of a call center’s or unit’s volume, measured against the prior 12 months.

What Title II would do

• Location disclosure. At the start of each customer service call, agents would disclose their physical location. Agents outside the US would also tell the customer they can ask to be transferred to an agent in the US.
• AI disclosure. If AI handles the conversation, the business would disclose that and offer a transfer to a human agent physically located in the US, by voice command where possible.
• Transfer on request. The business would have to transfer the customer immediately to a US-based human agent when asked.
• Annual certification. Each business would certify compliance to the Federal Trade Commission every year.

The bill also lists exceptions. Disclosure wouldn’t apply when every agent on the call is in the US, when the consumer initiated contact knowingly with a foreign entity, or for emergency services, and the FTC could exclude other categories in exceptional circumstances.

Does the Keep Call Centers in America Act treat nearshore differently from offshore?

No. The bill draws one line, inside or outside the United States, and the Dominican Republic sits outside it. A Santo Domingo agent would disclose location and offer a transfer the same way an agent in Manila would. That surprises people, because the business case for nearshore rests on proximity, time zone and cultural familiarity, which we cover in nearshoring vs. offshoring. Those advantages still hold; they just don’t change the legal classification.

What nearshore does change is how cheaply you can meet the bill’s requirements. Because a Dominican team works in Atlantic Standard Time (UTC-4), the same clock as US Eastern in summer, its peak hours overlap fully with your US staff. That makes a live warm transfer to a US-based agent practical at any hour your US team is open, without a dedicated overnight onshore shift just to receive transfers.

How S.2495 compares with the FCC’s onshoring proposal

In March 2026 the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on offshore call centers (FCC 26-16). It’s narrower in scope but more prescriptive. It covers communications providers regulated by the FCC, such as telecom, broadband, cable and satellite companies, and it proposes a cap on the share of customer service calls handled offshore, with 30% floated for comment, plus English proficiency standards and limits on handling sensitive account transactions offshore. Comments closed in June 2026. Check the FCC docket for the current status before you plan around it.

If you’re a telecom or broadband provider, the FCC proposal is the one to watch more closely, because a rulemaking can move faster than a bill. For everyone else, the bill is the relevant signal, and so are any state-level rules that apply to your industry.

A six-step readiness plan for nearshore customer service

None of this requires you to change vendors or move work home. It requires a few design decisions that you’d want anyway for quality reasons. We built them into our Dominican Republic nearshore operation for clients in regulated industries.

1. Map your call flows by agent location. Know which queues, channels and hours route to which country. Most companies can’t answer this precisely today, and it’s the first thing a regulator or auditor would ask.
2. Write a location disclosure script and keep it ready. Draft it in English and Spanish, test it in a pilot queue, and measure its effect on handle time and satisfaction so you know the cost before you need it.
3. Build a real US transfer path. Define which US team receives transfers, during which hours, and how context moves with the call so the customer doesn’t repeat themselves. This is where a blended onshore, nearshore and offshore delivery model earns its keep.
4. Audit your AI touchpoints. List every bot and voice agent that talks to customers, confirm each one discloses that it’s automated, and check that a human handoff exists.
5. Update vendor contracts. Ask your provider to commit to support disclosure, routing changes and reporting within a set notice period. If you don’t know where your vendor’s work is actually performed, start with who your BPO is actually working for.
6. Track the bills and the docket. Assign one person in legal or compliance to check Congress.gov and the FCC docket monthly, and to brief CX leadership on any movement.

What this means for your 2027 plan

Our view is that a well-run nearshore program is one of the most resilient positions to hold under any version of these proposals. Your volume stays in a time zone that lines up with your US team, your agents are bilingual, and your transfer path can be live rather than theoretical. The companies with the most exposure are the ones with fully offshore programs, no US-based escalation team and no visibility into subcontracted sites.

Ask your provider for evidence on three points: where each agent sits, how quickly routing and scripts can change, and which security controls back the operation. Our compliance page lists the certifications and controls we work under, including ISO/IEC 27001 and PCI DSS v4.0.1, and our customer service outsourcing team can walk you through how disclosure and transfer would work on your queues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Keep Call Centers in America Act law?

No. S.2495 was introduced in the Senate on July 29, 2025, and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. As of November 2026, Congress.gov shows no further action. The House version, H.R. 4954, is also in committee.

Would the Keep Call Centers in America Act ban offshore or nearshore call centers?

No. As introduced, it doesn’t prohibit them. It would require location and AI disclosure, a transfer to a US-based agent on request, advance notice before moving work overseas, and a public Department of Labor list tied to federal grant and loan eligibility.

Does the bill treat the Dominican Republic differently from the Philippines?

No. The bill distinguishes only between agents inside and outside the United States. Agents in the Dominican Republic, the Philippines or any other country would follow the same disclosure and transfer rules.

What is the difference between S.2495 and the FCC call center proposal?

S.2495 is a bill that would apply broadly to businesses in customer service communications. The FCC proposal, adopted in March 2026, is a proposed rule for FCC-regulated communications providers and includes an offshore call volume cap, with 30% proposed for comment.

How can a company prepare for the Keep Call Centers in America Act today?

Map which queues route to which countries, draft and test a location disclosure script, build a US-based transfer path, audit AI touchpoints for disclosure and human handoff, and add notice and reporting commitments to vendor contracts.

To learn more about how Sourcefit builds compliance-ready nearshore customer service with a blended US transfer path, visit sourcefit.com or contact our team for a consultation.