A new book to check out about smuggling, but great insight into US broken immigration system.

‘Snakehead’: Keefe’s eye-opener on Chinatown smuggling, stolen lives

Patrick Radden Keefe’s new book, The Snakehead, begins with this shocking event, which cracked the lid on a large-scale Chinese human-smuggling network and became a crucible in the U.S. illegal-immigration crisis that continues today.

More an eye-opener than a page-turner, the book reads like the investigative reporting it is. Keefe’s straightforward, no-frills narrative reveals the hidden world of Chinese “snakeheads”— organized-crime bosses whose illicit operations sneak undocumented Chinese immigrants into the USA. Experts estimate that in the 1980s and ’90s, some 50,000 illegal Chinese immigrants entered the USA annually.

A contributor to The New Yorker, Slate and National Public Radio and author of Chatter: Dispatches From the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping, Keefe tells the engaging stories of Golden Venture passengers, the snakeheads who transported them here, Chinatown gangsters who did the snakeheads’ dirty work, and federal agents who struggled for years to break the smuggling rings.

The book’s central character is Cheng Chui Ping, the most successful snakehead for nearly two decades. Operating from her variety store and restaurant in New York City’s Chinatown, “Sister Ping,” as she was known, made loans to immigrants and sold money transfers. But mostly she turned human suffering and the lure of the American Dream into a multimillion-dollar empire smuggling thousands of Chinese into the USA at $18,000 to $30,000 each. The Golden Venture tragedy proved to be the beginning of Sister Ping’s downfall.

Though Keefe intertwines stories and subplots into a compelling and informative book, it reads long. Because the subject is largely unknown and foreign to most readers, he interrupts its mystery-thriller story line with requisite but sedating “backgrounders,” often over-detailed, on topics such as the history of Chinese immigration in America and Chinatown’s underground economy.

But overall, Keefe maintains a commendable fairness and objectivity reporting a fascinating story.

There are numerous good films to watch and show to friends and family to raise awareness of human trafficking. The Department of Health and Human Services also has some good PSA’s to show during trainings or to family and community to educate them on human trafficking. You can order materials on their website:

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/

Here are a few mainstream films:

Maria Full of Grace is the story of two Colombian girls who are tempted with the idea of being mules to start a new life in the U.S.

Blue Velvet is a movie directed by David Lynch, an older movie from the 1980’s, it gives a scary glimpse of human trafficking in the suburbs.

Eastern Promises is a popular movie with Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen that tells a story of sex trafficking in Russia.

Borderland gives some examples of trafficking on the Mexican Border with Texas.

Human Trafficking is a Lifetime Channel Production with Mira Sorvino. Good for a human trafficking 101 course.

The Virgin of Juarez This movie stars Minnie Driver as a reporter investigating girls’ deaths in Juarez, Mexico.

The Body Without Soul talks about the sex trade in post-communist Prague.

Trade A dramatic film about a brother’s attempt to rescue his sister from the sex trade in Mexico.

Holly The story of a man trying to rescue a prostitute in Cambodia.  Stars Ron Livingston.

Born Into Brothels is a documentary about prostitution in Calcutta, India

The following films are not readily available at your local dvd store, but you can find them online:

Svetlana’s Journey is about a Bulgarian girl’s journey from an orphanage to adoptive parents who sell her to sex slaves.

The Day My God Died narrated by Tim Robbins

Call + Response

Very Young Girls

Demand a production of Hope International

Not For Sale Campaign

Iylia 4-Ever

Field of Mudan

SRTV Dutch Film

This video you must order from SRTV and is great for training purposes. SRTV is a Dutch Anti-Trafficking Organization. It is about a woman named Anna and the trials and experiences she went through. Once on the website, you will see a link for “Information Film ‘Anna’ “, click on this for information on how to order the movie.

http://www.srtv.info/engels/srtv/index_uk.html