In 2048, eight years after Charlene Roan's presidential election, the New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA) regain control of the U.S. government and have re-instituted the annual Purge with its original rules. Racial supremacy and nativism have surged nationwide following their re-election, and many outside the ruling party are concerned that the upcoming Purge will inflict more damage on the country than the NFFA realizes. Married migrant couple Juan and Adela illegally cross the border into Texas to escape from a Mexican drug cartel and build a new life, with Juan working as a farmhand on the Tucker family ranch while Adela begins working near Austin.