A placid young Mexican migrating to the United States by way of the Sonoran desert hires an unscrupulous American guide, the White Coyote, to get him and his witless uncle through on foot without getting them lost, killed or caught.

SYNOPSIS:

Carlos is a young, laid back Mexican man that is propositioned by his cousin to work and earn as much money in a week as he makes in two months. In order to do this he must leave his home, family and friends and take a dangerous trip on foot through the Sonoran Desert to cross the U.S. border.

To put his family’s fears at rest, he talks his witless, punchy uncle Jorge into accompanying him on this journey. They put their trust in the hands of a guide (coyote) recommended by his cousin. The guide is only referred to as the White Coyote. Coyotes are the nameless guides that for a high price will get you through the desert and over the border; presumably without getting you caught, killed or lost. You can never fully trust a coyote, but Carlos doesn’t trust this one in particular. He is called the White Coyote because he is not only a coyote, but also an American. He doesn’t look to have any latino in him. He appears as a cowboy with a brooding, dead inside way about him.

Carlos and Jorge join a group of forty-nine other men and women for this journey. Not all of them make it over the border. There are quarrels over money, an attempted sexual assault and one man has a heart attack and he gets left behind and left for dead. Carlos finds his voice during this trek. He realizes he has wisdom and strength that he didn’t think was in him. When they finally reach the Arizona border, the group is abducted by an autonomous group of coyotes. They shoot the group’s White Coyote and take over the trip. These new abductors are as unconscionable as the White Coyote. More people from the group are left behind, but the journey continues as there is not turning back at this point. The group is brought to a holding house where cockroaches become their worst nightmare. The White Coyote, surprisingly not dead, fakes the new bandits out and reclaims the group that commissioned him to get them to the United States.

Carlos and Jorge ultimately make it to their final destination of Ohio. It becomes a bittersweet success as Carlos reflects on those who didn’t make it through. In the end, ICE Agents raid the company he’s working at and send him back to his starting point: Mexico.