A Cuban woman who emigrated to the United States in 2021 and spent over five years without seeing her family returned to the island 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, showing her arrival by car on 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 contain themselves.
"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," Sailin wrote as the video description.
The girl was only five years old when her mother embarked on the migratory journey that would take them across Uruguay and the Darién to reach U.S. territory; by the time of their reunion, she had already turned 12.
Sailin resided in the U.S. with a I-220A form, an order of supervision from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that does not grant legal status nor is equivalent to a residence permit.
Due to the impossibility of regularizing her situation and the fear of being detained, she opted for voluntary departure and return to Cuba, a decision that carries severe immigration consequences.
The case of Sailin falls within a broader 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 driven by the mass emigration caused by the economic crisis, blackouts, and shortages plaguing the island.
The video from Sailin garnered over 29,600 views, 2,700 likes, and 109 comments in just a few hours, with dozens of users expressing their excitement about the reunion.
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