A Cuban woman who emigrated to the United States in 2021 and spent more than five years without seeing her family returned to Cuba and documented the emotional reunion with her youngest daughter on TikTok, a video that moved thousands of people within hours.
Sailin Escalona (@sailin1981) posted the clip on Sunday night, where she can be seen arriving by car to a street in Cuba and the moment her daughter runs out to greet her.
They hug each other and cry together on the sidewalk, unable to hold back.
"My baby that I left at 5 years old is almost bigger than me now. That's the end of my story, I’m home," wrote Sailin as the video description.
The girl was only five years old when her mother embarked on the migration route that would take them to Uruguay and then cross the Darién jungle until reaching U.S. territory; by the time they were reunited, she had already turned 12.
Sailin resided in the U.S. with an I-220A form, a supervised release order from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that does not grant legal status nor is equivalent to a residency permit.
Faced with the impossibility of regularizing her situation and the fear of being arrested, she opted for voluntary departure and return to Cuba, a decision that carries serious immigration consequences.
The case of Sailin is part of a larger trend: other Cuban mothers with I-220A have voluntarily returned to the island in recent months, driven by the same combination of legal uncertainty and prolonged family separation.
Videos of reunions between Cuban emigrants and their children have become a recurring phenomenon on TikTok during 2025 and 2026, reflecting the human drama stemming from the mass emigration caused by the economic crisis, blackouts, and shortages affecting the island.
The Sailin video garnered over 29,600 views, 2,700 likes, and 109 comments within just a few hours, with dozens of users expressing their excitement over the reunion.
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