A 27-year-old mom and her daughter and nephew made it to the U.S. after traveling for three months.
She left Honduras and traveled among some of the Cubans who had been stuck in Costa Rica since November. The first wave of some 8,000 Cubans who were camping near the border with Nicaragua continued their journey to the U.S. this week.
The mother, who asked to remain anonymous, said the journey took about three months. She spent some days in Guatemala before crossing the border with Mexico.
"It was really dangerous," she said in Spanish.
She was able to get medical attention and make it to the U.S. to seek asylum. The journey migrants are taking to flee from insecurity in Central America and economic frustrations in Cuba is one that is full of perils.
The Honduran mother added that her 14-month-old daughter got sick. She was also taking care of her 7-year-old nephew. When the human smugglers that she had trusted were not getting her medical attention, she ran away.
"I jumped off a window with my children," she said.
If the trip of the 180 Cubans goes well, the rest of the Cubans stuck after Costa Rica shut its border in December will continue to be airlifted out. They will have to pay $555 to make it to the U.S.
After the U.S. and Cuba restored relations in December 2014, there has been an influx of fearful Cubans into the U.S. Most fear that the U.S. Cold War era policy of asylum known as the "wet foot/dry foot" policy is soon going to end.
Honduran and Salvadoran migrants who are running away from crime and poverty don't get the same treatment. If caught, the Central American countries demand that Mexican authorities return their citizens. The Cuban government does not require that.