Family Grateful Cuban Migrant Cleared To Enter U.S. After Long Wait

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The Linares family is so glad to see their cousin Javier Ayala, who they were worried sick about.

He arrived at Miami International Airport at 10:45 in the morning Thursday – just a few hours before the "wet foot, dry foot" policy was erased.

He has a tourist visa and now says he's going to ask for asylum.

"The news about 'wet foot, dry foot' got around real fast, but now everything is very good," Ayala said.

Ayala waited in limbo for basically 24 hours. It was a long wait for his family.

"We have been here since 10:30 yesterday morning," said his cousin, Rizette Linares. "It has been more than 32 hours waiting for him to come."

Travelers reported about 100 Cubans arriving at MIA.

Prior to the policy change, they were not allowed to enter the country. There's still confusion as to why. But gradually, many like Ayala were allowed to enter the U.S.

"According to him, they treated him awesome. Glad to have him back. We were scared for a moment," said Carlos Linares, Ayala's uncle.