Dennis Pupo Cruz told her he was stuck on the Mexican-side of the bridge above the Rio Grande River. He was inches from the U.S. border, but Border Patrol agents had stopped him or any of the other Cubans with him from entering into the United States.

15 Cubans' plans to make it to the United States ended in disappointment Thursday when they were turned away at the U.S. border after President Barack Obama suddenly ended the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy. The policy had allowed Cubans without visas to remain in the United States. A Cuban who'd hoped to enter the United States pondered his future after he was turned away at the U.S. border in Laredo after President Barack Obama abruptly ended the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy. 15 Cubans' plans to make it to the United States ended in disappointment Thursday when they were turned away at the U.S. border after President Barack Obama suddenly ended the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy. The policy had allowed Cubans without visas to remain in the United States. A Cuban who'd hoped to enter the United States pondered his future after he was turned away at the U.S. border in Laredo after President Barack Obama abruptly ended the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy.

"We're two hours late," said Pupo, his eyes beginning to water.

Pupo was one of 15 Cubans stranded in the middle of the bridge that links Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, with Laredo, Texas, on Thursday night after President Barack Obama suddenly ended the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy that for more than 20 years had allowed Cubans who reached the United States to remain there.

They'd arrived at the U.S. border, often after spending thousands of dollars, with plans to travel to Miami, Houston and Las Vegas where they would meet family and start new lives. Now everything is in doubt.

"My uncle. My aunts," said Carlos Alberto Gonzalez Ricabal, a bartender from Las Tunas, Cuba, who arrived at the border at 6 p.m. "They told me to hurry up and come. Two hours. Two hours."

Hundreds of Cubans had been rushing to make it to the United States before the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, expecting that the new president might change U.S. policy toward Cuba and eliminate the special benefits Cubans have long received in the United States. None imagined that President Barack Obama, who visited Havana less than a year ago, would make the change just a week before he leaves office.