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2 Cuban sisters’ 4,200-mile journey to the US and a new life

In this photo courtesy of Melanie Rolo Gonzalez, she takes a selfie with her sister, Merlyn, in the background carrying her daughter, Madisson, in Nicaragua, early Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. The child and two women were winding their way through Central America to migrate to the U.S. Their “guide” was a vague, but constant presence, sending them messages with instructions as they were handed off smuggler to smuggler. (Melanie Rolo Gonzalez via AP)

This photo, courtesy of Mayte Isabel Dolado Hernandez, shows Marialys Gonzalez Lopez holding her granddaughter Madisson, second from left, alongside Marialy's daughters Merlyn and Melanie, second from right and right, at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. The young women and the child were about to board a flight to Nicaragua, on their way to the U.S. The vast majority of Cuban migrants over the last year have flown to Nicaragua, where Cubans don’t need a visa, and headed overland to Mexico to reach the U.S. The woman at left is the sisters' cousin Adilen Montano. (Mayte Isabel Dolado Hernandez via AP)

In this photo courtesy of Melanie Rolo Gonzalez, she takes a selfie with her sister, Merlyn, in the background carrying her daughter, Madisson, in Nicaragua, early Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. The child and two women were winding their way through Central America to migrate to the U.S. Their “guide” was a vague, but constant presence, sending them messages with instructions as they were handed off smuggler to smuggler. (Melanie Rolo Gonzalez via AP)

This photo, courtesy of Mayte Isabel Dolado Hernandez, shows Marialys Gonzalez Lopez holding her granddaughter Madisson, second from left, alongside Marialy's daughters Merlyn and Melanie, second from right and right, at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. The young women and the child were about to board a flight to Nicaragua, on their way to the U.S. The vast majority of Cuban migrants over the last year have flown to Nicaragua, where Cubans don’t need a visa, and headed overland to Mexico to reach the U.S. The woman at left is the sisters' cousin Adilen Montano. (Mayte Isabel Dolado Hernandez via AP)

In this photo courtesy of Melanie Rolo Gonzalez, she takes a selfie with her sister, Merlyn, in the background carrying her daughter, Madisson, in Nicaragua, early Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. The child and two women were winding their way through Central America to migrate to the U.S. Their “guide” was a vague, but constant presence, sending them messages with instructions as they were handed off smuggler to smuggler. (Melanie Rolo Gonzalez via AP)

Merlyn Rolo Gonzalez, left, and her sister Melanie sit on the porch of a family friend's home in Daytona, Florida, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. Days earlier, they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The last thing they told their mother before leaving her at the Havana airport on Dec. 13 was “I love you.” "Until then, it seemed unreal to me,” said Merlyn. "When the plane took off, we looked at each other and said ‘We’re free.’” (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Melanie Rolo Gonzalez stands in the bedroom she will be sharing with her 1-year-old daughter, Madisson, and sister Merlyn at the home of a family friend in Daytona, Florida, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. The three arrived in the U.S. after a three-week journey through Central America and Mexico. Over the past two years, American authorities have detained Cubans nearly 300,000 times on the border with Mexico. Some of the Cubans have been sent home, but the vast majority have stayed under immigration rules dating to the Cold War. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Merlyn Rolo Gonzalez shows her stitches to her sister Melanie, left, at the home of family friends Solanche Rodriguez and Walfrido Fuentes, in Daytona, Florida, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. Fuentes holds Melanie's daughter, Madisson. The child and the young women recently arrived in the U.S., after a three-week journey through Central America and Mexico. During the trip, the sisters were packed in a vehicle overnight with other migrants when it slipped and flipped over 10 times. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Marialys Gonzalez Lopez puts her pet dog London on a video call with her daughters Melanie and Merlyn from Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. The sisters arrived days earlier in the U.S., after a three-week journey through Central America and Mexico. They took leave from medical school and told only five close friends and family that they were going to migrate. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco)

Marialys Gonzalez Lopez and her father, Alejandro Gonzalez Lopez, hold a video call with her daughters Merlyn and Melanie, and Melanie's daughter, Madisson, from their home in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. The sisters arrived days earlier in the U.S., after a three-week journey through Central America and Mexico. During that time, their mother clung to texts and photos as signs they were okay. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco)

Melanie Rolo Gonzalez, right, and her sister Merlyn hold a video call with their mother and grandfather back home in Cuba, from the home of a family friend in Daytona, Florida, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. On New Year's Eve, the sisters waded through the Rio Grande into the U.S., where they were immediately met by Border Patrol agents, detained and quickly released under 60 days parole. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Walfrido Fuentes holds Madisson next to the little girl's mother, Melanie Rolo Gonzalez, center, whose sister Merlyn stands with her in Daytona, Florida, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. Days before, the child and the two young women crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, three weeks after leaving Cuba to migrate to the U.S. The three are staying in Fuentes' home. His wife is an old friend of the women’s mother. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

This photo, courtesy of Melanie Rolo Gonzalez, shows her daughter, Madisson, held by her sister Merlyn, shortly before they crossed a river on the Guatemala-Mexico border, early Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. The child and two women were winding their way through Central America to reach the U.S., part of a historic wave of Cuban migration. (Melanie Rolo Gonzalez via AP)

In this photo courtesy of Melanie Rolo Gonzalez, she shows bus tickets to travel within Honduras, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. Melanie, her daughter, Madisson, and sister Merlyn, travelled through Central America by bus, car, and foot on their way to the U.S. (AP Photo/Melanie Rolo Gonzalez)

This photo, courtesy of Mayte Isabel Dolado Hernandez, shows Marialys Gonzalez Lopez holding her granddaughter Madisson, second from left, alongside Marialy's daughters Merlyn and Melanie, second from right and right, at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. The young women and the child were about to board a flight to Nicaragua, on their way to the U.S. The vast majority of Cuban migrants over the last year have flown to Nicaragua, where Cubans don’t need a visa, and headed overland to Mexico to reach the U.S. The woman at left is the sisters' cousin Adilen Montano. (Maite Isabel Dorado via AP)

Medical students Melanie Rolo Gonzalez, left, and her sister Merlyn pet their German shepherd, London, at home in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022, days before leaving to migrate to the U.S. The women once dreamed of traveling as doctors, but they quickly grew disillusioned about life in Cuba. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Photos of family members who migrated to the U.S. cover the fridge in the home of sisters Melanie and Merlyn Rolo Gonzalez, in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022. Days later, they themselves made the journey. The sisters sold a house left to them by their father, along with the refrigerator, television and anything else of value in exchange for American dollars to help pay for the journey. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Melanie Rolo Gonzalez holds her daughter Madisson in their home's garden, in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. Days later, they left to migrate to the U.S., along with Melanie’s sister. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Marialys Gonzalez Lopez, left, wipes a slide during a photo session with her daughter Merlyn and granddaughter Madisson, in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022. Days later, the child, the younger woman and the child’s mother left home to migrate to the U.S. “All you know is that you’re going to a foreign country where you’ve never been, to put your life in the hands of people you’ve never met, to another place you don’t know,” said Merlyn. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Marialys Gonzalez Lopez cries as she holds her granddaughter Madisson during an interview at their home in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, one week before her two daughters and granddaughter left to migrate to the U.S. At left is Madisson's great-grandfather, Alejandro Gonzalez Lopez, and aunt Merlyn. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

One week before 1-year-old Madisson leaves to migrate to the U.S. with her mother and aunt, Alejandro Gonzalez Lopez plays with his great-granddaughter at her home in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022. It's a voyage that hundreds of thousands of Cubans have made over the last two years in a historic wave of migration. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

The passports of sisters Melanie and Merlyn Rolo Gonzalez, and Melanie's 1-year-old daughter, Madisson, lie amid supplies for their journey to the U.S., at their home in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022. It's a voyage that hundreds of thousands of Cubans have made over the last two years in a historic wave of migration. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Melanie Rolo Gonzalez, right, and her sister Merlyn, pose for a photo with their medical student uniforms as they pack supplies for their journey to the U.S., in their home in Havana, Cuba, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022. The sisters' voyage is one that hundreds of thousands of Cubans have made over the last two years in a historic wave of migration. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

(AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

2 Cuban sisters’ 4,200-mile journey to the US and a new life