Recently released after 20 years in a Cuban prison, Juan Raul Perez is on his way to Miami to join his wife when he encounters beautiful young Dorita Perez, a prostitute longing for the freedom of life in America. When the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) see the same last name, and mistakenly sign the two up as a married couple Juan and Dottie play-along with the error becuase the INS gives priority to families.

When Juan’s real wife Carmela determines that her husband never made it to the US, she yields to the advances of a charismatic cop. Both Carmella and Juan, now believeing they have been abandoned by the other, attempt to create a new life in America.