The book follows the story of seven families as they immigrate to the United States. One family is from Palestine. The daughter of this family is marrying a second generation immigrant from Palestine that lives in Chicago. Another family is in exile from Nigeria, and has been granted permission by the United States to move to Chicago. Two other immigrants are from the Dominican Republic, and have come to the United States to play professional baseball. Another family is from Mexico, immigrating to California in order to make money. The last family immigrated from India to California, to make more money than they would be able to make in India.