Text of Letter

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) joined Congresswoman Lori Trahan (MA-03) and fellow members of the Massachusetts Congressional Delegation, including Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) as well as Representatives Richard E. Neal (MA-01), Jim McGovern (MA-02), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Katherine Clark (MA-05), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08) and Bill Keating (MA-09) in demanding that the Trump administration reverse its decision to cancel federal Job Corps funding, threatening the abrupt closure of 99 contractor-operated Job Corps centers nationwide.

Their letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez DeRemer highlights the impact to Massachusetts’ three Job Corps centers: Shriver Job Corps Center in Devens, Grafton Job Corps Center in North Grafton, and Westover Job Corps Center in Chicopee.

“We are writing to express our deep concerns regarding the Department of Labor’s recent decision to pause operations at Job Corps centers across the country. We urge you to consider the long-standing value and potential of the Job Corps program in offering young people a critical second chance at personal and professional success,” the lawmakers wrote.

On May 29, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a pause in operations at contractor-run Job Corps centers across the U.S. With more than 120 centers nationwide, the Job Corps program provides opportunities for low-income and at-risk youth to gain the skills necessary to begin successful careers in a skilled trade or other profession.

“With 92,000 Massachusetts residents aged 18 to 24 living in poverty, the Shriver, Grafton, and Westover Job Corps Centers stand as vital resources for economic mobility and career development. Combined, they contribute an estimated $80 million to the local economy annually and across the state, we have seen the impact. Graduates have become union carpenters, plumbers, bricklayers, police officers, cybersecurity professionals, and entrepreneurs. This is not just an investment in the local talent pipeline for employers but an investment in our communities as many of these graduates stay in the region to live, work, and raise their families. Pausing operations at these centers at the end of the month will directly detract from workforce training and discourage economic development in communities across the country like Devens, North Grafton, and Chicopee,” the lawmakers continued.

The decision to close Job Corps centers was met with swift legal opposition. On June 3, 2025, the National Job Corps Association, a trade organization representing Job Corps centers nationwide, filed a lawsuit against the DOL, arguing that the closure of the country’s largest residential career training program was both unlawful and based on misleading data about its performance. The following evening, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, blocking the DOL from suspending program operations.

“The Job Corps program is built on second chances, and we urge you to offer this program the same opportunity to adapt and grow that it has provided its students for the last 60 years,” the lawmakers concluded.

Text of the letter can be found here.

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