Eritier Demunga’s mother brought him and his siblings from southern Africa to New Hampshire in 2013, hoping to give her children a better life. He was six years old at the time.

“She wanted to give us something new, something hopeful to look up to,” said Demunga, now 20, of Concord.

The next “big step forward” in that life was becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States, which Demunga did at the State Archives on Friday alongside 25 other people.

“It’ll be one of the most memorable days that I live to remember,” Demunga said. “The feeling of relief … With what’s going on in the world right now, it makes me feel a lot safer, knowing that I can’t be in that situation because I’m certified.”

David Scanlan, New Hampshire Secretary of State, welcomed the group of new Americans, hailing from 17 different countries, with a call to action: Use the rights and responsibilities you’ve earned.

“Your voice, in that vote, is just as important as anybody else’s,” Scanlan told the crowd. “It’s just as important as mine or the governor’s or the wealthiest person in this country or the strongest person in the world. We are all equal when it comes to that specific right.”

Some of the newest citizens in New Hampshire found their way to the United States for love.

Navil Souidi met his wife while on vacation in Boston back in 2019. They spent two weeks together, with an instant connection, until it was time for him to return to Algeria. They kept talking for two years, and he moved here in 2021. He’s now obtained citizenship like his American-born wife and son.

Souidi, sitting in the front row holding an American flag, arrived an hour early to the ceremony.

“I’m so happy and so excited,” he said.

A few seats away was Justyna Brown, who said she never thought she’d become a U.S. citizen.

She met her husband, Doug Brown, in 2014 at a business event in California. They became friends, and when she went back home to Poland, they talked for years over video chat, growing closer.

One rough evening in late 2019, Doug sat by the water at Hampton Beach – he’d been going through a divorce, and both of his daughters were simultaneously experiencing their first breakups – when Justyna called to check on him. When he reported he wasn’t doing well, she simply said, “OK, that’s it. I’ll be over.”

She moved to Hampton Beach to support him temporarily – or so they thought. When the pandemic descended and Poland closed its borders, she moved in with Doug. Years after they met, their friendship evolved into something more, and they got married in December 2020.

Justyna’s new citizenship status will be much more convenient in airports, they said, but it’s more than that.

“We’re making a home here,” Doug said. “If we’re going to be Americans, let’s be American … It’s kind of nice now, because it’s like we’re one.”

“I never thought that this would happen,” Justyna added, “but at the same time, it’s kind of nice.”

As for Demunga, he follows in the footsteps of his older sister, Faida, who became a U.S. citizen four years ago because she wanted to vote in elections and feel that her voice would be heard.

His mom, Justine, hopes to earn her citizenship someday, too. She likes the life she’s built in New Hampshire, which has felt like a safe place to raise her children – the crime rate is low, and she doesn’t hear of disasters on the news here like there are in other states.

“Like how our governor says, ‘Live free or die,’ and we feel that we are free in New Hampshire,” Justine said.

Now that he’s a naturalized citizen, Demunga said he’s itching to get his passport and travel the world. For now, though, he plans to celebrate this weekend with something small and simple.

“I personally don’t want a big event, like maybe something with my family,” he said. “That way, it’s more meaningful.”

 

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.