Salvatore is a very poor farmer and a widower who decides to emigrate to the U.S. with all his family, including his old mother. Before they embark, they meet Lucy. She is a British woman who wants to go back to the States. Lucy, or Luce as Salvatore calls her, needs to marry someone before she arrives at Ellis Island in New York. Salvatore accepts her proposal. Once they arrive in Ellis Island they spend the quarantine period trying to pass the examinations...

At age thirteen, Esmeralda, is the oldest child of six. She shoulders the responsibility of learning English as her mother's interpreter and guide through the challenges of their new life in America. Mami is the passionate and beautiful mother who moves the family to the U.S. seeking medical care for her son's chronically infected foot. Tata, Esmeralda's stoical grandmother, is the matriarch of the American ranch of the family.

Sayra is a beautiful young Honduran woman who joins her father and uncle on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of the Latin American countryside en route to the United States. Along the way she crosses paths with El Casper, a teenage Mexican gang member, who is maneuvering to outrun his violent past and elude his unforgiving former associates.

Raul feels trapped in the slums of Havana and dreams of escaping to Miami. After he is accused of assault, he must flee the country to save himself. He begs his best friend Elio to leave and help him travel 90 miles across the ocean. But Elio is torn between helping his best friend and protecting his twin sister Lila. Soon the trio's commitment to their homeland and their desire of starting life anew in America is put to the test.