Sebastian Fuentes: ‘The dream of coming to America is definitely a hard one that few people can achieve’

Country of origin: Peru

Sebastian Fuentes was a 20-year-old college student in Lima, Peru, in 2001 and saw the limited opportunity in his home country for his future. He decided to have some adventure and took the chance to explore a new country and to build his language skills, so he got a seasonal worker visa.

“Growing up I was never expecting to come to this country and stay this long and leave Peru and have a family and have a home and, you know, and be part of the community that I’m part of. So, I think growing up in South America, the dream of coming to America is definitely a hard one that few people can achieve. So it wasn’t in my plans.  It just happened,” Fuentes said.

He came on a J-1 three-month work visa and landed a job at the Mt. Washington Hotel in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. He decided to stay because he did not like the prospects in Peru.  He spent five years living and working in the shadows on his 16-year path to naturalization, becoming a citizen in July of 2016.

Despite language barriers and being a person of color living in a place that was so different from his origins, he embraced the experience. Ultimately, he met his future wife and the mother of his children

Fuentes said, “I learned how to live in this country, to connect myself with folks up in the North Country. I just found peace, found safety, you know, and that’s the thing that many immigrants are going for, you know? Sometimes it’s not even money. Sometimes it’s just, I just want to be able to have a place to raise my children and be happy and feel free. And that’s what, to me, what the North Country was all about.”

Achieving citizenship motivated him to become civically active, a common thread for new Americans. They have gained the privilege of citizenship and are eager to embrace and exercise their hard-earned rights. Sebastian was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention this summer and works for the NH Democratic Party, organizing Latino voters in the state.

Talking about becoming a naturalized citizen he said, “It was such a milestone in my life. You know, it’s just not expected. Going from what I experienced as undocumented,  to being a green card holder, to being a permanent lawful resident to becoming a citizen. I can vote.  I can get my passport. You know, I did all that pretty much the day after I became a U.S. citizen because I like… American people take that for granted sometimes, you know? You don’t understand how valuable that is.”