Tony og Manny kommer til Miami som kubanske båtflyktninger. For å skjule sine kriminelle rulleblad og å skaffe seg oppholdstillatekse må de ta livet av en som tidligere jobbet for Castro, og de to får snart kontakt med en mafiaboss som handler stort med kokain. De kommer godt overens og starter et samarbeid, et samarbeid som raskt forkludres når Tony blir forelsket i mafiabossens vakre kjæreste, Elvira…

In the midst of the Mariel boat lift -- a hurried exodus of refugees from Cuba going to America -- an immigration clerk accidentally presumes that dissident Juan Raul Perez and Dorita Evita Perez are married. United by their last name and a mutual resolve to emigrate, Dorita and Juan agree to play along. But it gets complicated when the two begin falling for each other just as Juan reunites with his wife, Carmela, whom he hasn't seen in decades.

Oliver Stone's second documentary on/interview with Fidel Castro specifically addresses his country's recent crackdown on Cuban dissidents; namely, the execution of three men who hijacked a ferry to the United States.

The story of Cuban refugees who risked their lives in homemade rafts to reach the United States, and what life is like for those who succeed.