Contact: DOJCommunications@doj.state.wi.us
MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul joined an amicus brief with attorneys general from 21 other states in support of a proposed class of plaintiffs challenging the unlawful termination of Job Corps, a national program that offers career training and housing to young Americans from low-income backgrounds. The brief was filed yesterday in Cabrera et al. v. Department of Labor et al. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“It is mystifying that the Trump administration could possibly be opposed to Job Corps, which helps young people prepare for employment and avoid homelessness,” said AG Kaul. “The Trump administration doesn’t have the authority to destroy this program.”
Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the plaintiffs in National Job Corps Association et al. v. Department of Labor et al. The filing urges the D.C. court to grant a motion brought by a group of enrollees in the program to issue its own injunction barring the Department of Labor from terminating Job Corps.
Job Corps has nearly 100 residential campuses across the country, and the Trump Administration’s effort to illegally terminate the program threatens to leave thousands of vulnerable young Americans homeless and without job training. The brief explains that “in the sixty years since Congress created Job Corps, millions of young Americans from low-income backgrounds have been served by the program’s unique combination of education, training, housing, healthcare and community.”
Unlawful termination of the program would impact tens of thousands of young Americans who are currently enrolled and housed at campuses in all fifty states.
The state of Wisconsin was joined in the brief by the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
The amicus filing reaffirms that judicial intervention is necessary to protect vulnerable state residents and promote state goals in education and workforce development. It further reinforces the point that the Trump Administration cannot violate federal law and the Constitution by terminating congressionally mandated programs it opposes.
A copy of the amicus brief is available here.
