Among a cascade of bad news, Tiffany Davis faces an impossible dilemma.
After they lost their home, Davis’ 16-year-old son Carleton moved into Detroit Job Corps on the city’s west side.
On Friday, the career training facility for youths was abruptly shut down. No warning or explanation given. Carleton was one of dozens of inhabitants forced to pack all his belongings into trash bags and relocate.
“The staff, they had us go to the rack at about 1:30, and they broke the news to us, and they had us go to the dorms and pack our stuff,” he said.
His mother, Tiffany Davis, worries about Carleton’s future.
“I didn’t want him to be a statistic,” she said. “I wanted him to be focused on his education. I have breast cancer surgery next week, so now I’m debating having my surgery canceled so I can make sure my son is OK.”
That heartbreaking choice was foisted upon the Davis’ and other families like theirs by budget cuts ordered by President Donald Trump at the Department of Labor.
Community activist Pastor Mo said he has fielded calls from frantic mothers all week, worried about the next step for their children. The crisis they now face didn’t have to happen, he said.
“The ones who are trying to get it right, that’s why I’m so pissed off,” Pastor Mo said. “These aren’t kids in a youth home that got caught in a crime; these are kids who are trying to avoid getting caught in a crime.”
It’s a story that’s playing out across the nation.
The Trump administration says it wants to invest more in “pro-America” schools. There’s no evidence the Job Corps was promoting Marxism or some other anti-Western ideology.
“The president wants to give taxpayer money to trade schools and programs where they are promoting American values,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “But most importantly educating the next generation based on skills we need for our economy and society.”
And that’s exactly what Job Corps does, said a staffer in Reno, Nevada, at the Sierra Nevada Job Corps, which is also closing down.
“We are the trade school. We’re the best trade school you could be funding,” said Leslie Brandeau, work-based learning specialist at the facility. “The thought of our youth on the streets after leaving Job Corps tears me up. They’re too good of kids to do that to.”
Sierra Nevada Job Corps counseling manager Joe Bridegum, who’s worked at the center for eight years, said many of their clients escaped domestic abuse or were living on the streets.
Mellow Darling, who specializes in trades like plaster work, said joining Job Corps was one of the best decisions of his life. Now all his work was for nothing.
“It was rough where I was,” Darling said. “This really sucks for everybody. I can’t finish the opportunity I was given and now I have to go home empty-handed.”
With outrage building, Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen has urged the Trump administration to reconsider eliminating the Job Corps.
“At a time when our nation is facing skilled workforce shortages in key sectors, Job Corps plays a critical role in equipping at-risk youth with the skills they need to meaningfully contribute to their communities, fill needed labor gaps and help boost local economies,” Rosen said in a statement. “For decades, the Job Corps program has cultivated a strong and resilient workforce in Nevada and eliminating the program will have detrimental consequences on the communities, employers, and youth that rely on it.”
Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin said the administration is defying the will of Congress.
“Congress appropriated funding for Job Corps, and the Trump Administration can’t just decide to not spend it because they want to make room for tax cuts for billionaires,” Baldwin said in a May 30 statement.
Brandeau was more blunt.
“This is a mistake” she said. “Please don’t do this to us.”
On social media, some cheered the cuts
“It is not the American taxpayers’ job to fund this sh-t,” proclaimed one MAGA supporter. “They can be funded by the companies that want to use this service to hire people.”
But most bemoaned the draconian cuts.
“This is what we talk about,” one Trump critic wrote. “They’re always shutting something down in our communities just so they can continue to be ahead of us and it’s sad. You can fund wars but not the people.”
