When Czechoslovakian immigrant and would-be farmer Karel Novak arrives at Ellis Island, he discovers that the entrance fee has been raised to $200, $142 more than he has in his wallet. Hauled back to the steamship for deportation, Karel jumps overboard and swims ashore but loses his money on the dock. Penniless, he wanders the Manhattan streets until he meets Sylvia Dennis, a pretty nineteen-year-old chorus girl who catches him stealing doughnuts from the rehearsal hall. Sylvia takes Karel to her apartment and introduces him to her young brother Frank, whom she cares for and supports. After selling newspapers with Frank, Karel, who sleeps on Sylvia's rooftop each night, gets a job as a cab driver and dreams of becoming a millionaire so that he can marry Sylvia. When Frank is caught for truancy, the presiding judge orders him to live at the Benton Institution until the now unemployed Sylvia gets married. Desperate to help Sylvia but worried about his illegal alien status, Karel contacts Halsey J. Pander, a crooked lawyer who secretly reports him to the authorities for money. On the day that Frank is taken away, Karel is picked up and sent to the police station with Sylvia. Although Pander insists that Karel be deported, Murphy, a sympathetic policeman, rallies his fellow officers to thwart the shyster and make Karel a citizen and Sylvia's husband before the morning deadline.