82-year-old Cuban woman arrives in US with her grandson over Rio Grande – NBC 7 South Florida

“We had a lot of trouble, but we finally got there,” Marta and his grandson Andres passed Rio Grande. She, 82, had to swim against strong currents, but she did it.

“As soon as they found me, I thought I was going to die. They gave me water. They gave me water. I called them in search of them,” recalled an elderly Cuban woman on a trip from Cuba to the United States. Nicaragua.

Once in that country they crossed borders through several countries until they reached Mexico and from there crossed the river via the Eagle Pass in Texas and arrived this Saturday.

They crossed the river by Eagle Pass in Texas

“They even took my check book from me and they left me with nothing to do,” he says of what happened during the trip.

The Cubans say the economy on the island is bad, but that’s not the reason they risked their lives.

“Reality is politics … well, we don’t have the freedom to express what we feel there,” they accuse.

This is the largest irregular evacuation in the history of Cuba, with more than 145,000 people entering the United States in the past 15 months.

“On July 11, we tried to defend our rights. Whether we can or not, one has rights. We were persecuted,” the elderly woman and her grandson insisted.

This is a controversial immigration move.

About 80 immigrants came in the same group, with whom we spoke a few minutes before being detained by the authorities.

They all have dreams that they want to fulfill with new opportunities that they hope will open up for them in the United States.