MANCHESTER, NH – A day before a federal court in New York is to hear a request for an injunction to block the Trump administration’s order shutting down 99 Job Corps sites nationwide, an aspiring student and former New Hampshire graduate spoke about the program’s importance at a news conference Monday at Manchester Community College.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Southern District of New York issued a restraining order blocking the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision to close all Job Center on June 30.
U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter Jr. issued an order stopping the shutdown, preventing the U.S. Department of Labor from moving forward with the closings, “from enforcing, implementing, maintaining or giving effect to the elimination of the Job Corps program, including the stop work orders and termination and non-renewal notices delivered to Job Corps center operators starting May 29, 2025, from issuing, enforcing, implementing, maintaining or giving effect to any shutdown tasks, job terminations or student removals; and from taking any further action to eliminate the Job Corps program without Congressional authorization.”
But he ordered attorneys from the Labor Department to appear in court June 17 to give reasons why he should not issue a preliminary injunction extending the ban. If he does not extend it, all 99 Job Corps centers will close as of June 30, 2025
At Monday’s news conference in Manchester, students and alumni encouraged the Trump Administration to save Job Corps, which they say gave them a “chance at the American Dream.”
Isaiah Martino, 22, is a Job Corps graduate. He said before entering the program, he was a high school dropout living on his parents’ couch.
Through the program, he earned a food handler certificate by taking a food safety training course and passing a final exam.
He now has a stable job, an apartment and a car.
“I am grateful,” he said. “It would be a crime to deprive others of what I had.”
Daria Martin-Bennitt, 17, of Manchester who graduated Saturday from Manchester West High School, planned to enroll in Jobs Corps to become a licensed electrician. When she applied, however, she was informed no applications were being accepted, a result of the closure decision by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Now, everything is up in the air. She continues to work at MacDonald’s, a part-time job she’s had throughout high school, and hopes to enroll in Manchester Community College to achieve her goal to become an electrician.
If the program is closed on June 30, about 40 students may find themselves homeless.
Executive Councilor John Stephen, who spoke at the news conference, said city and state officials are working to ensure that no student will be without a home. He said he stands firmly behind NH Job Corps, which has 115 teachers and 250 students who will be affected by the closure.
He said NH Job Corps is there to give youths a chance and the state needs to do everything necessary “to make sure we help these youths.”
While none of the state’s delegation – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hasson and U.S Representatives Chris Pappas and Maggie Goodlander – attended the news conference, they sent representatives who read letters in which all voiced their support for Job Corps. Hassan said in her letter that ending the program “is short-sighted.”
Job Corps, established as part of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, is a free residential education and job training program for low-income people between the ages of 16 and 24.
Ten years ago, New Hampshire opened its only Job Corps Center at 943 Dunbarton Road, the last state to do so. On Oct. 19, 2015, New Hampshire politicians celebrated the opening of the $35 million complex. Among them were Shaheen, then U.S. Senator now Gov. Kelly Ayotte, then Gov. Hassan, now U.S. Senator, and then Mayor Ted Gatsas.
Students live at the complex while basics are provided including food, clothing, health care and school supplies at an average cost of about $123 per student per day.
The complex comprises seven buildings including dormitories, a gym/recreation center, movie theater, classrooms, a dining hall, and an administration and wellness center.
It also includes learning centers and equipment to train students who spend an average of eight months to a year there earning a high school diploma or GED while also gaining practical career training.
Job Corps has had its critics, issues and financial challenges. In PY 2024, the program operated at a $140 million deficit, requiring the Biden administration to implement a pause in center operations to complete the program year. The deficit is projected to reach $213 million in PY 2025.