Taking off shoes, separating liquids, passing through scanners. Being in an airport is a hassle many people dread. But for Celis Wignall the John F. Kennedy Airport on a recent day became a place where dreams were coming true.

“I feel excited about what’s going on,” she said. “I’m just waiting for her to come outside.”

Wignall was waiting for her daughter, Miriam Robinson. Eighteen years ago Wignall left Jamaica for the United States to support her family. She got her green card here, became a citizen, and filed a green card application for her daughter. And then she waited. And waited because the number of green cards available each year is limited. For over a decade Wignall’s two weeks of vacation in Jamaica were the only time she could spend with her daughter.

“Two days before I leave we can’t speak to each other because you have this knot in your stomach knowing that you have to leave,” she said in an interview in February. “She’s mourning, I’m mourning, because I know I’m not going be able to see her for another year.”

Wignall, 50, made the journey from her home in New Jersey to Jamaica every year. But her daughter had to stay put, one of 4 million people waiting abroad to join their families in the U.S., according to the Department of State.

For some it takes only a few months to become eligible for a green card; others wait over 20 years. In a phone interview from Jamaica in February, Robinson said she had adapted to this kind of life.

“I don’t think about marriage,” she said. “I don’t think about kids and other long-term commitment. I don’t want to jeopardize the fact that she’s filed in my name."

The wait paid off. Robinson’s application was approved in September. On that recent day she got off the plane from Jamaica and entered the U.S. as a permanent resident.

"I'm here!" she said, laughing.

Not even a teenager when her mother left Jamaica, Robinson is 30 now. She left aside the four suitcases into which she has packed her life and fell into her mother’s embrace.

“I am ecstatic,” she said. “Over the years I’ve been waiting for this moment, and it’s finally here. I am super grateful.”

The two women, who look alike and wore skinny jeans and winter coats, left the airport smiling. They’re starting a new chapter of their lives. Robinson plans to study here and find a job.

Wignall said she felt at peace because her home is now a place her daughter can call home as well.

“I feel like I’m complete, I’m whole,” she said. “This is the best feeling I have in a long time.” 

This story was reported with the support of the Institute for Justice & Journalism.