The first of 8,000 Cuban migrants recently stranded in Central America have crossed the Mexican border into the United States.
Some 180 migrants flew from Costa Rica to El Salvador, and have been making their way to the U.S.
All are given permission to cross Mexico for humanitarian reasons. The groups travelled separately across Mexico and the organization sponsoring their trip says the first arrived late Thursday in Laredo, Texas.
The migrants spent several months in Costa Rica after Nicaraguan authorities denied them passage. With the bottleneck, both Ecuador and Costa Rica stopped issuing visas to Cubans, who want to reach the U.S. before it changes its migration policy with the thawing of relations with Cuba.
Cubans only need to set foot on U.S. soil to gain entry.
