?? >> buenos d?as y bienvenidos. good morning. welcome once again to "tiempo." i'm joe torres. new york's new secretary of state is a latina. and before her new job, she newspaper in new york city. she'll be here to tell us about her new role, and about her new program designed to help thousands of low-income new yorkers become u.s. citizens. that's coming up a little later on in the show. right now, though, a very important topic here on "tiempo." we talk about it often. education. we are a month away from the start of the new school year. where did the summer go, right? it's been three years since governor christie passed a bill that made undocumented students eligible for in-state tuition at

universities. but those same students are not eligible for state and federal aid -- education aid. and now, well, a new study shows undocumented students in new jersey who are eligible to enroll in state colleges are not applying. so, what's the response to that? well, how about this -- a push in the state legislature to offer those students some financial assistance. here to talk more about this, gordon macinnes from the new jersey policy perspective, and li adorno from amerin friends service committee. welcome to you both. so, it seems like the kids are so close, right? they have the opportunity to get the in-state tuition, but they're not applying because the cost is still too high. >> if they are applying, in many cases, they're getting admitted, but they can't afford to go, so they don't accept the admission, for example, to rutgers, which has been the most active university in reaching out. >> okay. so, what's the proposal now before the state legislature? >> so, the original bill had student financial aid in it.

we want to get that section back in because, lookit, we're talking about kids who came here not by choice. they came with their mom and dad. and they got here, and they finished high school, they did well enough to get into the colleges, and their parents don't make enough money, and they have no rope to grab ahold of. >> yep. and there are grants, correct, and other issues, sometimes, that latinos can -- we've talked about it here on "tiempo," not just in new jersey but in new york, that many latino kids can apply for. did you go tou experience when you were applying for yourself, li? >> yeah, but, i mean, all your choices are really limited. >> yes. >> mostly everybody who applies to school, they expect almost to get some help from state. >> sure. >> and in our case, it's not an option. >> walk me through what happened with you. you're a senior at...? >> i'm a senior at st. peter's, studying health. and for me, it was -- the first step was to, like, where am i gonna go to school, right? the only thing that was affordable to me was community

different scholarships from outside the state, right. and then, to transfer out into a four-year university was completely difficult 'cause there wasn't a lot of aid available to me. >> sure. >> so i had to go private instead of public. >> okay. and you are from where originally? >> i'm from union city. >> from union city. for the family, origin is...? >> mexico. >> mexico. okay. lot of kids in his situation. i mean, any idea what the number is of kids who would benefit? >> here's what's the problem. the public schools -- li went to school in union city. union city cannot ask him what his immigration status is. they can't ask what his parents' immigration status is, so we don't have precise numbers. we know that new jersey has the fifth highest number and the third highest percentage of undocumented families in the country, so we expect that we're talking about thousands of kids who are finishing the public schools, they have to have graduated, they have to have been here for three years. and, by the way, taxpayers have

the age of 3 and they went to pre-school and finished high school, taxpayers have invested about $300,000 in their education, and then all of a sudden we drop them off the end of a cliff. >> gordon, have you seen what you're trying to do here in new jersey work in other states? >> yes, we have. and, for example, california, which has a much larger population to begin with, but it also has a much higher percentage of its young people who are undocumented than new jersey. >> what do they do there? >> well, they adopted a program new jersey. and what they saw -- and they had one of the best systems of public higher education in the world. what they saw was a big uptick in the number of kids who had finished high school in california who were now able to go to college. and that's a very important thing because, hey, if you don't have a college education, your chances in the economy aren't great. >> are you of the opinion that if it works in california, it could work in new jersey? >> absolutely it would work.

of successful applicants and the number of dollars involved, would be much smaller. >> okay. your situation, when you started applying for colleges, did you look at rutgers? great school. >> i did. but, once again, it's very hard to get money from them. >> and so even with an in-state tuition price, it was a little bit too much financially for your family to bear? >> right. right. even community college is hard. like, you're talking about like $3,000 a semester. >> mm-hmm. >> but, like, our families are barely keeping up with rent, you know? >> and how did you end up at financially? >> well, like, they're able to give me institutional money. >> mm-hmm. >> so that's how i'm getting my scholarships. and private donors. >> here's the question i think maybe opponents of this might throw at you. is applying this to undocumented students, if we open it up to them, will it be taking money away from students who are here -- citizen students, if you

>> okay. >> we estimate that the largest percentage of kids who would be eligible for state financial assistance is less than 1%. so even if they were to receive the fullest state assistance imaginable, they would not have the impact on other students applying for that student financial aid. >> all right. sit tight, 'cause i think there's a little helping hand or to spread the message. we'll talk about that when we come back here on "tiempo." still ahead on "tiempo," a former guest returns to "tiempo," and this time, she is new york's new secretary of state. a proud latina tells us about her new role, and a new program focused on helping thousands of low-income new yorkers become american citizens.

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get tv, internet and phone for $89.99 per month. plus free installation, tv equipment, and epix included. call now. guess what i just did? built a sandcastle? ha, no, i switched to geico and got more. more? 24/7 access online, on the phone or with the geico app. that is more. go get some mud... all that "more" has to be why they're the second-largest auto insurer. i think so. geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. >> welcome back to "tiempo." we've been discussing a new study by new jersey policy perspective that shows

enroll in state colleges are not applying. and we've been joined this morning by gordon macinnes from the new jersey policy perspective and li adorno. he's a student from american friends service committee. one of the things that you pointed out to me, that you'd like to see a little bit greater -- what do you want to call it, marketing, or public outreach from universities? >> outreach, yeah. we need to see to the universities follow the example of rutgers, frankly, which held sessions aimed at undocumented students only on all three of and it got a big turnout, and the word of mouth got around, and they had a very high number of applicants as a consequence. of the 570 kids who were admitted and have enrolled, over half of them go to rutgers, and that's the reason. >> okay. any idea why the other colleges -- and i'm trying to think what they might be. what -- rowan, montclair... >> william patterson, new jersey city university, kean. >> kean. okay.

kids, have 50 students enrolled who are undocumented. rutgers, in the meantime, has over 307. >> have you reached out to them to say, you know, "listen" -- >> we've asked them questions, and we do the research. we're not there to push and say, "you better do this or we're gonna..." we just asked them, "what did you do to reach out to undocumented students who are about to finish high school or have finished it or may be at a community college to let them know that you want -- you're interested in them?" >> yeah. sure. what do you see at s p along those same lines, at places like rowan and rutgers and montclair? >> right. so, st. peter's has taken the initiative of establishing a center for undocumented students. the goal is to let them know that they're welcome. they can continue their education. at the same time, collecting resources to help undocumented students, like how to apply for daca, how to re-apply for daca, advanced parole, and scholarships that are available to them. >> you think the other colleges can do a better job of getting that word out?

>> right. >> give me some other compelling reasons for the legislature and the governor to extend this financial aid to the students. i think i know the answers, but go ahead. walk me through one or two. >> first of all, we're wasting the investment we've already made in their education. these kids come out. they've been diligent. they've been persevering. they've been enterprising. they finished high school. most of them started not knowing any english, and now they're ready to go to college, and they can't afford it. because their parents, they're not working at big corporations. they're frequently relying on cash incomes. they don't -- they make less on average than half of what the new jersey typical family makes. >> yeah, we should throw -- what's the average? $34,000? >> $34,000, $35,000. and there are at least three people in the family, and you got to pay rent and buy food and get to work. how do you afford anything else? you can't. >> medication, et cetera. >> you can't. >> and if they have two students in the house, you know... are you the oldest of -- how many siblings do you have, li? >> i have four siblings.

>> in the middle. >> right. >> okay. your older siblings, are they college-educated as well? >> my sister is. >> okay. how did she make it happen and your family make it happen? >> through the same way, pretty much. and that's kind of how i really thought it was gonna be really hard for me. 'cause she's a very high-achieving student, and when she had trouble getting into school and stuff, i was just like, "oh, my god. what's gonna," like... you know, to the average student, we were like, "oh, this is scary." >> do you get feedback -- maybe the word might be pushback from students who if we" -- and it's similar to the question i asked him before. "if we're trying to take care of the financial needs of undocumented students, then there are citizen students, your peers, who may not be able to take advantage of it." do you find yourself on the defensive, if you will? >> i feel like sometimes i do. depending on the day, really. 'cause sometimes it feels almost like they're afraid to compete. 'cause i feel like people are always asking, like, "well, where's the talent in the u.s.?"

off the bat that graduated community college with me who are just as good, just as smart, but didn't have the luck to get the scholarships they needed. >> mm-hmm. yeah. how close before this gets another run, another pass at the legislature? >> well, we've got a prominent and influential sponsor in the assembly, and i think the speaker of the assembly is in favor of it. that counts for a lot. >> okay. >> we're hoping that we'll get through the assembly, get over to the senate. i think the senate president has indicated -- and, again, that's importt "president likes it? yeah, okay, we can hear the bill." and he's indicated that he would support the idea. and so that should allow the majority party, and we would hope the minority party, to get together and say, "this is something that new jersey will benefit from, as well as the kids who would be able to finish college." >> the students are pretty good at putting together protests and rallies and demonstrations, sometimes on the steps of trenton. they're outside the governor's

kinds of activities to try and raise public awareness? >> we are trying to, like, raise public awareness, right, but also there's, like, a lot of things happening in the country that are targeting our community right now, so it's not the main focus. >> it's not the time, right? >> right. >> presidential politics right now seems to be at center stage. but nonetheless, there's many students out there like him, bright young students who could use a little financial aid, financial assistance to get them through college. >> and new jersey's wasting its opportunity as well as the kids' opportunity. that doesn't make any sense. >> and you can often waive what h working in places like california, like texas" -- >> texas! >> texas! there's another state with a lot of -- >> well, i mean, there are lots of states -- eight states that have moved over and said, "we're gonna help provide student assistance as well as in-state tuition." >> keep us posted on the progress, on the march. and good luck to you, li. thanks so much. on your way to being a health advocate. coming up next on "tiempo," new york's new secretary of state -- latina! and she's here to tell us about her new role and the new initiatives to empower latinos.

>> the new secretary of state in new york -- una latina. and if she looks familiar, it's because she's been a former guest here on "tiempo." the last time she was here, she was editor of the largest spanish-language newspaper in the city. well, now rossana rosado has a new job, and with it, several new initiatives, including one designed to help thousands of low-income new yorkers become u.s. citizens. welcome. thank you for coming back.

you speaking at cuny at your son's...? >> my son's college graduation. >> so, yeah, that had to be a moment for you, right? >> it was. >> oh, my goodness. super special. >> i was like, "do you mind me" -- they invited me to be commencement speaker, and i said, "do you mind?" and he was like, "no, i'm used to you." [ both laugh ] >> "i can deal with it, mommy." secretary of state since when? february, correct? >> since february, yes. >> five months. >> mm-hmm. >> how's it going? >> it's going. >> okay. >> i spent the first three months preparing for a senate confirmation, so that was -- that's like studying for the >> and it was also a great way to get to know the agency. my agency has like 13 different divisions, and so that took some time. >> it's expansive, for sure. >> it is. >> is it everything that you anticipated it would be, or have there been some surprises, either good or bad, along the way? >> you know, i think i'm fortunate enough to have surprises every day. but it's also what i intended. you know, i wanted to be somewhere where i could impact

we have so many divisions where we actually touch people and businesses and cities, municipalities throughout the state, i feel like we have a great footprint on new york state. >> for those watching at home wondering, "all right, well, what's the general mission of the secretary of state of new york?" give me the 30-second answer. >> it's to... [ laughing ] that's a good question. >> well, i would argue, if it's like the secretary of state at the federal level, you're an and i would assume there's lots of travel in your schedule, right, to every corner. >> there is, but the great part is, i'm an ambassador to the people of the state of new york. so i'm -- when i'm traveling, i'm driving, and i'm traveling to different places in the state, and i'm interacting with people who are receiving grants, either for their cities to develop downtown areas, or they're receiving grants for -- anti-poverty grants to reduce poverty in their areas.

they're receiving money to help new americans go through the different -- you know, remove the obstacles that may be there for them to become citizens. >> you are often, therefore, carrying good news. you know, "i bring good tidings of great joy." it's like christmas, right? >> and checks. i bring checks. >> and checks. plata. you know, that's often wonderful for people. let me ask you this -- how did your previous role at el diario prepare you for this job? >> so, i didn't know this, that newspaper, you have the sports section, and you have the local news, and then you have entertainment. you have all these different sections, and you have to know a little bit about everything. >> okay. >> and so department of state has all these -- like 14 divisions that are very different. and, so, in essence, the eclectic nature of the department, my career in journalism prepared me for it. so, one day we're talking about sports 'cause we have the new york state athletic commission, and the next day, you know, we run a division that

grants, anti-poverty grants. and then we run local community grants. and we run office of planning and development, that does all this wonderful work with municipalities in developing their downtown areas and their coastal resources. >> so are you a jack-of-all-trades? >> a little bit like that. >> are you a master of none? [ both laugh ] >> i like to think -- i think my mastery is in taking that message to the people. >> yes. >> and i have the opportunity one license -- you know, we license 34 professions. and that one license is kind of the entr?e into the middle class. >> yes. >> it's one barber or one hairdresser, but that can lead to being a business owner and being financially stable. >> your predecessor was also a guest here on "tiempo," cesar perales. have you "picked his brain" for advice and wisdom about how to proceed in this new job? >> yes, all the time. he calls me every few weeks. >> does he? yes. >> and he's also involved with

started it. so, you know, it's great. there's a lot of great energy at the department, and there are -- as i said, there's so many touch points for the different stakeholders that i feel really privileged. when i came, one of the reasons i came was that the governor said to me, "you can touch 10 people a year or you can touch thousands. and in order to touch thousands, you have to come to government." >> he knows how to sell it, doesn't he? >> he really does. >> all right. well, i want to talk to you when we come back about some of the that will help many latinos in our area, which of course is important to you as a fellow latina. so sit there. sit tight. we'll be back with more with the new secretary of state, rossana rosado, and her new initiatives when we come back on "tiempo."

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>> welcome back to "tiempo." we've been talking to the new secretary of state in new york, rossana rosado, and we've been discussing her new role with some several new initiatives to help latinos. before we get to that, i have to ask you -- take me to th was it a phone call? was it an e-mail? was it a visit from governor cuomo himself? when you were told, "hey, i'd like you to be the new secretary of state"? because that had to be hair-raising. >> so, i had two reactions. i was like, first, number one, "oh, god. that's a big role." and my second one was, "oh, you can't say to the governor." you know, "you can't say no to serving the people of new york." and so i hesitated, because i knew i would have to say yes. >> were you scared? >> no. >> no? you think you were ready?

i never knew what my next step -- exactly what my next step was going to be. but when i left el diario, i gave away all my business suits. >> sure. >> so i was like, "oh, darn. i have to go shopping." >> [ laughs ] well, nothing's wrong with going shopping. let me ask you about naturalization, because i know, "a," that it impacts many, many latinos, and that's something that you -- an issue you want to advance. what are you doing to try and get the ball rolling in terms of getting more people to become citizens? >> so, we have -- the started three years ago by cesar, and we have 27 centers throughout the state where we're really helping to deliver basic services to new americans. >> they've been here to talk about that, yes. >> helping them to learn english and all of that. so this kind of next step is to make a big push to help people naturalize, to become u.s. citizens. and so part of that is removing obstacles. one obstacle is learning english. so we're doing that already in the centers. another obstacle is the fees. there's a $750 fee, federal fee,

either raise money or help direct, you know, funds -- not state funds but, you know, private funds -- to help people mitigate some of that cost. because we believe there's a lot of interest. >> okay. >> and if we could remove the obstacles, we can help them. 'cause, you know, citizenship also helps you gain economic opportunity, which is what department of state is about. >> we've got about 45 seconds left. diversity. another big issue that you're trying to address. tell me. >> yes, so, we're trying to bring more latinos to state government. all of your young people, all young latinos to take those civil-service exams. >> how do you sell it to them and say, you know, "this is something you need to take advantage of"? >> you say, "you can retire with a great pension, you have great benefits, and you can be in service to the people of new york in so many different departments and divisions. >> i tend to see that many young people don't look that far down the road. >> i know. >> so how do you convince them to say, you know, "that's really important"?

straight out. >> [ laughs ] it's a good gig. >> i just tell them, "it's a good gig. move to where you have to go. you can buy a house, and you can be" -- for me, financial independence and stability is everything. >> that's a big selling point. un placer. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> good luck in the new job. keep us posted. and the door's always open here at "tiempo." >> i'll be back. >> before we go, a lookay at the "tiempo" community calendar for this week. mondays through saturdays until september 10th, be sure to check out an exhibit dedicated to the book "don quixote" at the cervante the world-famous book is the center of an exhibit where movies, artworks, versions of the book in many languages are all on display. the institute is located at 211 east 49th street in manhattan. next sunday in queens, the 34th annual ecuadorian parade marches down northern boulevard from 69th street to 86th street in jackson heights. there will be all kinds of fun and festivities, along with comida tipica, baile, m?sica. it is a guaranteed great time.

gracias to you. thank you for spending part of your sunday with us. if you missed any part of our show, don't worry. you can watch at abc7ny on the web, on your tablet, or even on your smartphone. that wraps up another edition of "tiempo." how quickly the time passes. i'm joe torres. thanks for watching. we'll see you next time on "tiempo."

>> "here and now," the program featuring the news and interests of the african american community. here's your host, sandra bookman. >> coming up, a new law that's reforming the speedy-trial provision ensuring that people aren't held in jail longer than necessary. how it could affect rikers island. plus, the man behind the motown sound, berry gordy jr., talks about his rise to fame and the "motown: the musical." later, as the mount vernon public library honors hip-hop legend heavy d, his mother reflects on his life and music career. but first this afternoon, a look at how black police officers handle the dual role thrust upon them as the country grapples with the fallout in the wake of a string of controversial police shootings of unarmed black men and several tragic police killings. our guests today are both former