Nayeli is a 19-year-old who lives in Tres Camarones, Mexico, in the state of Sinaloa. We meet Nayeli on a bus ride to Tijuana, with her friends Yolo, Vampi, and Tacho. They're going to the border to recruit Mexicans abroad in California, because the town of Tres Camarones needs men to protect it. When they arrive, they discover that the bus was robbed in transit, and all their belongings are gone from below the bus.
Nayeli calls Chava Chavarin, a contact in the States, but the operator doesn't know who he is. While she thinks of a way to sneak past Border Patrol, she stays with a friendly couple who offers her and her friends quarter, but when they arrive, it turns out they live in a literal garbage dump. At the dump, Nayeli meets the "King of the Dump," a man named Atomiko. He decides to help Nayeli on her quest. They find a coyote, which is slang for "a guy who can get you past border patrol for money," and they all cross the border in the night. They are caught and sent to America's deportation office. Tacho is heard talking about a restaurant, "La Mano Caida," but Border Patrol thinks he said, "Al Qa'eda," because the officer is paranoid and xenophobic. Tacho is taken to jail.
Back in Mexico, Nayeli and her girlfriends are met by Atomiko and Wili (the coyote). They still want to help, so Wili takes them to a muffler shop with a tunnel in the basement that leads to a building in America. They arrive in a fabric shop in California, they are rushed to a van, and they depart for San Diego.
They find Missionary Matt (a friendly), and they stay with him. Vampi meets a guy called El Brujo and they instantly fall in love. Tacho is released from jail and celebrates at a gay bar in Tijuana. He goes home with a guy named Rigo who sneaks him into America the next day using a fake ID. He meets back up with the girls in San Diego. The next day, they find Chavarin and he agrees to help; they also meet a man named Angel who can help. At their house, they get harrassed by angry Americans who know they're illegally in the country. They successfully rally the men to return to Tres Camarones, but Nayeli decides to go north to visit with her dad in Illinois.
Nayeli and Tacho tour the United States, stopping at tourist sites, getting harrassed sometimes by strangers. Tacho becomes ill and has stomach issues, and Nayeli goes alone to Kankakee, Illinois where she meets Mary Jo. Mary Jo helps her find her father in town, but when she finds him, he has a new wife and child. He has abandoned the family. Back in San Diego she learns that 27 men are going to help in Tres Camarones.
