Lizet Ramirez is the first to go to college from her Cuban immigrant household in Miami, and her parents see it as an act of betrayal. Lizet's family breaks up before she leaves, and upon arriving at the school, Lizet struggles socially and academically. She returns home for Thanksgiving and her whole family becomes embroiled in the case of a young Cuban boy whose mother died at sea en route to seeking asylum in the U.S.