This harrowing film goes beyond the rhetoric to show why immigrants are willing to risk everything – even virtual slavery – for the American Dream. While politicians, activists, and the media wrestle with the thorny issue of immigration Lives for Sale exposes the painful, rarely seen human side of illegal immigration – especially the growing black market trade in human beings. The documentary also looks at some practical alternatives to these tragic realities. Interviews include immigrants, a "coyote" who brings people across the border for money, clerics, activists, and law-enforcement officials.