Two weeks ago we got the news: the Department of Labor was “pausing” the Job Corps program, laying off staff and sending students home within days, right before graduation season. My office was flooded with anxious calls and messages from people who are distraught. The Trump administration and DOGE have made many bad decisions, but this one is especially short-sighted.

When I was elected to Congress in 2012, one of the first visitors to my Washington, D.C., office was an Oregonian excited to tell me about Tongue Point Job Corps in Astoria, Oregon. I didn’t know much about Job Corps at the time, but as an education advocate for years I understood how important it is for every student to have a path to success.

Congress created Job Corps in 1964 as a program in the Department of Labor, and over the decades Job Corps has opened doors of opportunity for millions of students by providing skills training matched to in-demand jobs in the region. There are more than 120 Job Corps sites, most of them residential. Job Corps has been a lifeline for students ages 16-24 who haven’t found their footing in traditional high schools. Many were homeless or in foster homes, and Job Corps gave them a home and hope and a future.

Since that first visit in my office, I’ve visited Tongue Point and PIVOT, a non-residential Job Corps site in Portland. I’ve met Job Corps students and heard their stories of overcoming hardship and finding community. I’ve participated in Job Corps graduations and have had conversations with staff and local businesses about why Job Corps is an important program for the students and for the local economy. I remember a Job Corps culinary arts graduate named Cassandra who traveled to Washington, D.C., to let lawmakers know how grateful she was to Job Corps for giving her a safe place to learn.

So why would the Department of Labor take such drastic action, especially when Job Corps has broad bipartisan support? There’s a report with DOGE’s fingerprints all over it claiming that Job Corps has financial and operational challenges, but those claims are disputed. And if a program has challenges, let’s address them, not gut a program that is changing lives and breaking cycles of poverty.

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who just last year was recognized as a “Job Corps Champion” when she was in Congress, said they would return students to their “home of record,” overlooking the fact that many Job Corps students don’t have homes to return to. Importantly, the report does not factor in the costs to society if the students do not have an opportunity for education and job training and end up on the streets or in homeless shelters instead of working and contributing to their communities and the economy.

Fortunately, a federal judge has blocked this action by the Department of Labor for now, and there will be a hearing soon. Last week, when the Secretary of Labor was in the Education and Workforce Committee, I used my time to challenge the decision to shutter Job Corps. I hope that people across the country will join me and make their voices heard. For those who have found their path to success through Job Corps and others who will need that path in the future, let’s tell the Labor Department that we care about every student, and let’s save Job Corps.

Suzanne Bonamici is a Beaverton resident. Her House District 1 stretches from portions of Portland to the Oregon Coast.