Published in the UK for the first time, the Empire of Pain author’s tireless investigation of human trafficking from China to the US reveals the desperation of the migrants and the woman at the heart of it
As with that title, there is an indefatigability here about Radden Keefe’s approach to storytelling. You feel the weight of evidence in every paragraph. This book is based on more than 300 interviews with “FBI agents, police officers, immigration investigators, attorneys, White House officials, Golden Venture passengers, Chinatown residents and community leaders and individuals who work in the snake head trade”.
As his account makes clear, the promises that Sister Ping made were brutal and sometimes fatal, but they were not empty. The stinking hold of the cargo ship represented a better possibility than other futures. At a time when our newspapers are full of stories of people smuggling, this book is a reminder of the element of that tale that is too easily overlooked: the absolute determination of the people who temporarily sell their fate to the criminal gangs.
Some of those ultimately granted leave to stay, who fought their cases for four years in American jails, were gathered together for a documentary in 2006. They never got to see one another, they joked, because they were all so busy working. Michael Chen, a spokesman for the survivors, ran a restaurant in Ohio. “We have been out of jail for 10 years,” he said. “We have all started businesses and families and paid taxes.
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