"We just used some to fly a 3-year-old and his dad, who had been separated at the border, from Michigan (where the son had been taken) to their extended family."

Ross D. Franklin / AP

While hundreds of families separated at the US–Mexico border under the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy remain apart, a Michigan woman has inspired people to help reunite loved ones by donating their frequent flyer miles. Beth Wilensky, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, tweeted on Tuesday that her donation had brought a 3-year-old boy detained in Michigan and his father back to their family. "My husband travels a lot," she wrote. "Downside: he's gone a lot. Upside: frequent flyer miles. We just used some to fly a 3-year-old and his dad, who had been separated at the border, from Michigan (where the son had been taken) to their extended family."

My husband travels a lot. Downside: he's gone a lot. Upside: frequent flyer miles. We just used some to fly a 3-yr-old and his dad, who had been separated at the border, from Michigan (where the son had been taken) to their extended family. DM me if you have miles to donate.

In just a few days, her tweet was shared more than 30,000 times, and Wilensky urged anyone with extra airline miles to donate. She had donated to Michigan Support Circle, a group working locally to reunify families, as well as provide them with essentials during what can be a drawn-out, bureaucratic process. Wilensky also directed people to Miles 4 Migrants, a group that reunites refugees around the world with family they'd been separated from because of conflict and persecution. Already, Miles 4 Migrants has received 5.8 million donated airline miles. "The families are government-approved for relocation. So when the cases come to us, everything's good to go," said Nick Ruiz, one of the founders of the nonprofit. "The only thing holding them back is the cost of the flight." The idea for the group was born after Ruiz met a Pakistani Christian pastor who had fled to Italy as a refugee without his family. Desiring to help, Ruiz took his plans to donate his personal frequent flyer miles to Reddit's /r/churning, a community dedicated to maximizing credit card points and perks.

"Once we saw this work on a small scale, we tried to think about the bigger picture," Ruiz said.