from nicaragua, celimar had travelled across honduras and guatemala and then, crossed into mexico, evading the migration police. in mexico, celimar was hidden in a safe house controlled by the cartels. after windsurfing for nearly two days, elian was drifting closer to florida but he had pushed his body to its limits. elian was rescued just after sunset. he received urgent medical care. after three days, alejandro thought he could see lights on the horizon. as the sun rose, he realised it was a hotel. after 13 days on the road, celimar was getting close to the us border. but there was one final challenge — the notorious rio bravo. because of the strong currents, many migrants have died on this crossing, and celimar was trying to cross in winter. at the start of 2023, following a record influx of migrants, the us government took radical action. in texas, troops were deployed to the mexican border. and a new parole programme was introduced. cubans who entered the us illegally would not be eligible to apply. with elian already in florida, his wife and daughter had been making the dangerous cr