Family separated for 5 years reunited in emotional embrace at SFO

SAN FRANCISCO - Of the thousands of families reunited at airports around the country, there was one at San Francisco International Airport that was so emotional, it brought people to their knees.

"It feels amazing. Finally, I got my kids with me and my wife," Sergio Lopez said Friday, as tears streamed down his cheeks.

The 37-year-old hadn’t seen his family in a long time. 

So long, that his youngest son Johndry had yet to be born.

The four-person brood is now back together following wife Yadira’s arrival just before noon.

"It’s just very emotional," she said in Spanish, crying while holding her husband close. "Because after five years to finally be back together. Our family has been on pins and needles."

Five years ago, Sergio became an enemy of the state, after taking part in anti-government protests in Nicaragua.

"When the protests end, they target people in the protest. So they start to persecute people, harass people. So they came to the houses and took it (people) to jail," said Lopez, as his oldest son Sergio Jr. played with balloons that were given to him.

After the detentions started, the college-educated public relations expert said goodbye to his family and fled his homeland, to avoid punishment for his political expressions.

Sergio’s journey to America was much more complicated than getting on a plane and flying here. 

He first snuck out of Nicaragua. Then he made his way through Guatemala and into Mexico, where he was detained. 

And after he was released, he was kidnapped and tortured. He escaped and made his way to the U.S., where he was detained again. And then he caught COVID.

"It wasn’t until he started living with me, and we got to know one another that I learned what he had gone through," said Michele Wolpe.

She began hosting Sergio three years ago and continued after he was granted political refugee status last year. 

She and others helped him navigate the labyrinth of bureaucracies to bring his family to the United States.

"They show up needing asylum but not having any resources. Not having housing. Not knowing how to navigate public transportation or the bureaucracy of the United States government," said Pastor Allison Tanner of the Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church in Oakland.

After five years of waiting, it took another two hours of pacing, before this reunited family could begin their new journey, into the American Dream.

Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter), @JesseKTVU and on Instagram, @jessegontv