Trump Mandate Closes Inland Empire Job Corps Center, Court Intervenes

INLAND EMPIRE, CA — A federal program established in 1964 that has helped low-income Inland Empire students train for careers in various industries has been shut down by the Trump administration.

The Inland Empire Job Corps Center at 3173 Kerry Street in San Bernardino abruptly closed late last month, leaving students there in limbo. The center offered job training in the automotive, construction, finance, healthcare, homeland security, hospitality, information technology, manufacturing, renewable resources, and transportation sectors.

Patch called the Inland Empire facility on Tuesday. A person who answered identified as "security" and said the facility was closed. A June 2 state filing shows that 134 people at the center were laid off due to the facility's "permanent closure."

What happens next is unclear. On Monday, a federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration's order to close the country's 99 Job Corps centers, which serve about 25,000 students.

The court ruling follows a U.S. Department of Labor announcement last month in which the agency said all Job Corps centers nationwide would be "paused" by June 30. The Labor Department stated the decision aligned with President Donald Trump’s budget priorities and the administration’s “commitment to ensure federal workforce investments deliver meaningful results for both students and taxpayers.”

In the May 29 Labor Department news release, the agency characterized the national Job Corps as underperforming and rife with problems.

" ... a startling number of serious incident reports and our in-depth fiscal analysis reveal the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes that students deserve," according to Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who was appointed by Trump earlier this year.

The 60-year-old federal Job Corps program has offered tuition-free vocational training to students ages 16-24, many of whom live on campus. Established as part of the Economic Opportunity Act that was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in August 1964, the program was a key component of Johnson's War on Poverty campaign.

The goal of the Job Corps is to help low-income young people find employment. At the Inland Empire center, more than 300 students were being accommodated.

According to a report from the San Bernardino Sun, when the Inland Empire Job Corps center shut down, some students living on campus were provided with transportation to a bus station.

An Inland Empire Job Corps parent was upset about how the students were treated.

"Some of these kids are homeless; they’ve come from all different walks of life," the parent told the news outlet. "These kids were just being dumped at the bus station."

That's different than the messaging in the Department of Labor news release.

"As the transition begins," the agency said, "the department is collaborating with state and local workforce partners to assist current students in advancing their training and connecting them with education and employment opportunities."