"Finally in Cuba, after three years, I can hug my mom again," shared @daimylydom, a Cuban emigrant, as she posted the third installment of her video series on TikTok. The series captures the surprise reunions with her family after years apart from the island.
The secret was kept from nearly everyone, except her parents and a neighbor.
Upon arriving at the airport, she headed straight to her aunt's house, signaling her cousin to stay silent and keep her presence under wraps.
"Her reaction was the most touching," she admitted about that heartfelt moment.
In the brief video, just over a minute long, the creator reflects on the significance of those embraces for those who stayed behind in Cuba: "I realized that no matter how much they missed me, each embrace showed them someone they longed for."
"I let myself be embraced, and I hugged them tightly in return, allowing them to feel as if they were holding those they deeply miss," she recounts.
The Distance Dilemma
The author describes the strangeness of geographical distance: "It's still hard for me to grasp how in less than a two-hour flight, our reality changes so drastically."
This video is part of a growing trend on TikTok in 2025 and 2026, where Cuban emigrants document their return to the island after years of family separation.
On May 7, another Cuban returned to the island, shouting "mami" in a surprise reunion that also moved thousands of followers on the platform.
Just two days earlier, on May 5, an entire neighborhood poured into the streets to welcome another returning emigrant, in a video that swiftly went viral.
A Reflection of the Cuban Exodus
This phenomenon highlights the human impact of Cuba's largest migration exodus in history: between 2022 and 2023, over a million Cubans left the island. This exodus reduced the population from 11,181,595 in December 2021 to just over 10 million by December 2023, as reported by the National Office of Statistics and Information.
This massive separation, driven by the economic crisis, power outages, scarcity, and political repression, has left almost every Cuban family with a loved one overseas.
"Every Cuban has someone they miss hugging," @daimylydom expresses in the video, capturing the shared pain of a nation divided by migration.
The video concludes with a hopeful message for those still waiting for that cherished moment: "May everyone with an embrace pending have their wish fulfilled soon."
Understanding the Impact of Cuban Migration
What prompted the large-scale migration from Cuba?
The mass migration from Cuba was primarily driven by economic hardships, frequent power outages, shortages of essential goods, and political repression.
How many Cubans left the island between 2022 and 2023?
Over a million Cubans emigrated from the island between 2022 and 2023, significantly reducing the population.