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

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) 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)

By MEGAN JANETSKY / Associated Press February 5, 2023 7 min read

HAVANA (AP) — The Rolo González sisters walked out of Nicaragua’s main airport and peered out onto a sea of young men.

The Central American “coyotes” squinted back, trying to find the people they would smuggle to the United States. These were the first steps that 19-year-old Merlyn and 24-year-old Melanie took outside of Cuba. Toting two small backpacks and Melanie’s 1-year-old daughter, the women realized just how alone they were.

Their odyssey of more than 4,200 miles (6,000 kilometers) would lead the medical students to question their past lives, race unknowingly against a ticking legal clock and leave them teetering on the edge of death as they tumbled down a cliff.

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This is part of an occasional series on how the United States became the world’s top destination for asylum-seekers.