A Cuban mother residing in Miami experienced an emotional reunion with her baby after weeks of separation, having sent him to Cuba with his father to meet his grandparents, as she was unable to make the trip.
Milena Paez Cruz (@milena.paez.cruz) shared the video of the reunion on TikTok, with a description that encapsulates the pain and joy of those days: "After so many days without seeing you, love of my life."
The clip shows the moment when this Cuban mother embraces her son again to the rhythm of an emotional song.
The baby's journey had been previously documented by Milena herself. In June, she posted a video announcing the departure with the phrase "Mom's love went to meet the grandparents," tagging the child's father.
Milena could not accompany her son because, as inferred from her situation, she has an active immigration process in the United States that prevents her from returning to Cuba without risking her legal status.
Cuban women with humanitarian parole, Form I-220A, or pending asylum applications cannot travel to the island without that return being interpreted as evidence that they do not need international protection.
The case of Milena is not isolated. Since 2025, other Cuban mothers have sent their babies to Cuba with the father or a relative so that the grandparents can meet them in person, while they remain in Miami waiting for the resolution of their immigration processes.
In May 2026, the Cuban Yelenys experienced a similar situation and summarized her feelings with a phrase that resonated among the diaspora: "I couldn't go, but I sent a little piece of my heart." In December 2025, Yisileyva let her son go to Cuba with his father while awaiting the approval of her residency.
These videos have become a form of collective catharsis within the Cuban community on TikTok, where the hashtag #cubanosporelmundo gathers thousands of posts documenting separations, reunions, and the nostalgia of a diaspora that has grown rapidly in recent years.
Milena's reunion with her baby reflects a reality that thousands of emigrated Cuban families face daily: the fracture between those who managed to leave the island and the connections that remain on the other side, a direct consequence of decades of forced migration due to the economic and political crisis in Cuba.
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