An estimated six million undocumented Mexican migrants live in the US. This study takes the reader deep into the sending communities in Mexico, where conditions lead to Mexicans risking their lives in a bid to cross the border. Included are astonishing tales of border crossings and interviews with construction workers, restaurant staff and street vendors in New York and L.A. on their survival strategies, the ways they find work, send money home, find housing, learn English and avoid detection. Hellman offers a humanising perspective on the struggles of the migrants.