A Mexican troubadour struggling to make a living in San Francisco's mission district travels back across the border to visit his dying mother in filmmaker Mark Becker's unflinching portrait of illegal immigrant Carmelo Sánchez. By day Sánchez washes cars, and by night he moves from restaurant to restaurant playing romantic ballads for tips. But Sánchez isn't alone in America, his best friend Arturo is always by his side. When Sanchez's mother falls ill and he returns to Mexico to be by her side, Arturo follows along as viewers are offered a deeply personal look at the life of a kindhearted and hardworking man who is simply doing his best to provide for his impoverished family.