PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by John Morales, Student President at LaGuardia Community College
1:42:11
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3 min
John Morales, an immigrant student from Ecuador and the Student President at LaGuardia Community College, testified about his experiences with civic engagement and the challenges he faces as a non-citizen student. He highlighted the importance of financial aid programs and the need for free MetroCards for CUNY students.
- Discussed his inability to receive federal financial aid (FAFSA) due to his immigration status, but benefits from the state's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP)
- Shared a personal experience of being denied a government internship opportunity due to his citizenship status
- Emphasized the financial burden of transportation costs for students and advocated for free MetroCards or alternatives
- Explained the challenges of balancing his engineering major with additional course requirements for programs like ASAP
John Morales
1:42:11
Hello.
1:42:12
Can you hear me?
1:42:13
Yes.
1:42:14
So my name is John Morales.
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I am a student president at LaGuardia Community College, and I came here to testify.
1:42:25
Good.
1:42:25
Thank you.
1:42:26
Well, I'd like to speak a little bit about my own background.
1:42:30
So I am an immigrant from Ecuador.
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I came here for asylum.
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And currently, I am not able to take FAFSA, which is federal student aid because I am not a citizen.
1:42:41
Thanks to the Jose Peralta, act, I am able to take TAP, which is a tuition assistance program for the state, which covers for my tuition.
1:42:51
Now as an immigrant, I I really can't vote, and it is I want to bring up a lot of opportunities that I would like that I was able to take in government both in the country and at LaGuardia.
1:43:05
My my dad actually worked for the government a government department in my home country, which is why I am inspired to take on government, and I would like to work in government in the future.
1:43:16
However, there are been some opportunities that I wasn't able to take since I am not a citizen, and that has hindered my ability to get more involved in government.
1:43:26
At one point, they actually got accepted for a position as a as an assistant for a congress member.
1:43:35
But the day I showed up on the office, they told me they couldn't do anything because apparently, they somebody wasn't looking, and they didn't know they couldn't give me the job.
1:43:44
And that was after I already went there, and I was in the office.
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I believe in my own way, I would like to inspire as much changes as I can.
1:43:56
One of the issues that not necessarily play specific engagement, but that is very important to both USS and Q And A is metro cards.
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Now since I don't have I have the top aid, which allows me for my tuition.
1:44:10
I chose my word yet because of his affordability, but also because well, it has my major in affordability, but it's not a convenient location.
1:44:18
It is very far from my house, held by Howard Beach.
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It is it is really far from Long Island City, which is more or less where the world is located.
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And transportation is something I have to access to a lot every single day.
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It is more or less two trips going in and going back.
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And it's more or less 5 days a week that I go have to go there, adding on different meetings for SGA, which is the environment, and for USS, which is why I believe either free metro cards or some alternative could be very useful for me.
1:44:49
There's an alternative cut ASAP, but it is inconvenient for me because it also has some eligibility requirements like taking on extra courses.
1:44:58
Am an engineering major, and I'm I have an academically challenging course load at the moment.
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I don't think I can't afford taking any more classes that would that would require that will require of me.
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That is my experience, and that is what I want to say.
1:45:15
I want to share about my own experience first and why I couldn't be that involved even though I want to be.