The dream of reunion continues to be a happiness within reach for many Cuban families who have applied to the humanitarian parole program.
This was the case for Mirella Torres and her daughter, who this Friday merged into a tight and emotional hug at the Miami Airport, starring in one of many scenes that these days acquire special relevance due to the proximity of the end of the year, which multiplies – even more- the emotion of the moment.
“I don’t want to cry because I am so happy to be in the land of freedom”Torres said in statements to the journalist from UnivisionJavier Díaz, after hugging his daughter, whom he had not seen for more than two years.
“Without a gag, no more gag,” said the Cuban woman at another time, finally free to express her opinions of all kinds in public. “The humanitarian parole is the salvation of Cubans,” mother and daughter agreed happily for a family reunion that these days is multiplied in many other emotional stories.
Since the end of January, when the first lucky ones began to arrive, videos have multiplied that reflect the joy of the reunion of thousands of Cuban families. The images are anthological and would add many hours of continuous playback if they were edited into a single, large video.
At the end of October it emerged that more than 52,000 Cubans received authorization to travel to the United States since the humanitarian parole program began in January until last September, according to official figures from the United States Department of Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The same source revealed that, of the cases examined and approved to enter the United States, 50,185 Cubans have already arrived on American soil.
Until the end of September, 265,888 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans arrived legally on humanitarian parole to the United States. Of those four nationalities favored with the immigration benefit, Cubans occupied third place with 52,053 permits granted.
In May, the US government introduced changes to the application selection process, combining the random approval of cases with attention to requests with longer waiting times.
