CHICOPEE — Inside Berchmans Hall at the College of Our Lady of the Elms on Tuesday, 90 Westover Job Corps Center graduates celebrated securing their driver’s licenses, high school diplomas and vocational certificates. But outside the ceremony in the rainy weather, three members of the western Massachusetts political delegation rebuked the Trump administration’s recent attempts to shut down the Job Corps programs that made these graduates’ achievements possible.

“This attack on education and resources is not simply an attack on the district, on the city of Chicopee; it’s an attack on individuals who want to work,” said Rep. Shirley B. Arriaga, D-Chicopee. “If anyone knows anything about the Westover Job Corps or Job Corps overall, their goal is to help young adults get the training and the resources so they can start working.”

Arriaga, Sen. Jake Oliveira, D-Ludlow, and Rep. Brian Ashe, D-Longmeadow, each spoke on the ways that Westover Job Corps program creates employment opportunities for young people, fills workforce demand and houses otherwise homeless commonwealth residents. Created in 1964 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, the program offers free academic classes, vocational training and housing to people ages 16 to 24. It takes place on the grounds of the Westover Air Reserve Base.

“At Westover Job Corps, there’s nearly 250 residential students that participate in the Job Corps program that could be left without housing opportunities, without workforce opportunities, by truly a reckless administration in Washington, D.C., that is continuing to unconstitutionally cut essential programs that we have in our country to help people get ahead,” Oliveira said.

The Trump administration attempted to dismantle the decades-old program on May 29 when the Department of Labor announced the phased pause of the 99 Job Corps programs across the country, ending all operations by June 30. The statement cited the White House’s proposed budget and statistics on operational cost and performance as justification for ending the program. The 24 Job Corps Centers under the Department of Agriculture would continue to run.

Just days after the Labor Department released its statement, the National Job Corps Association claimed in the lawsuit against the department and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer that the pause is unlawful and based on faulty data.

A U.S. District Court Judge in New York City, Andrew L. Carter Jr., last week issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction at the plaintiff’s request. The injunction hearing also took place on Tuesday.

“Unilaterally cutting programs within a department without congressional approval is unconstitutional and goes against the general principle of a representative democracy and the separations of powers within the Constitution,” Oliveira said.

Westover Job Corps employs 175 people and enrolls 352 people, 250 of whom live on campus. According to a fact sheet supplied by the Westover Job Corp Center, the program brings in $35 million a year to the local economy through classes in construction, plumbing, electrical systems, carpentry, health care, car mechanics, culinary arts, HVAC operations and advanced manufacturing.

“I’ve had the privilege years ago when I worked for the Sheriff’s Department of having young people get introduced to the Westover Job Corps and helping them acclimate to get into the community,” Ashe said. “At a time right now where so many industries don’t have a backfill of people to start working there, to cut programs like this is so detrimental.”

The findings of the first Job Corps Transparency Report released by the Department of Labor in April claim that the Job Corps; graduation rate is 38.5% and costs more per graduate than other higher-education institutions at $155,600. These statements, Oliveira said, are untrue or misleading. The report only looks at data from fiscal year 2024, which was heavily impacted by the pandemic’s economic upheaval.

“The statistics coming out of the Department of Labor don’t match with the actual reality,” he continued. “And so I think that’s the most frustrating thing. There is a narrative that this administration wants to paint and be damned with the facts.”

Historically, Job Corps graduation rates hover around 60%. The average cost of a four-year college graduate is $312,408 and the average cost of a three-year community college graduate is $110,717, which is far lower than the $57,312 per graduate estimated during the first Trump administration.

Press was not allowed to attend the Westover graduation ceremony or speak to students and staff due to ongoing litigation, but Arriaga recalled the story of a graduate from the previous year who felt trapped before joining the Job Corps. He had no driver’s license, no job prospects and no permanent place to live. One day, an individual convinced him to enroll at Westover, and it opened up opportunities he didn’t know he had.

“Not only did he get his driver’s license, he completed his certificate here and he got a job with over $80,000 as a salary,” Arriaga said. “The mission is to help, and that’s exactly what Job Corps does.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.