The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America

by Saket Soni

"An eye-opening look at the world of global itinerant workers . . .  The Great Escape  is a must-read." — The New York Times Book Review

The astonishing story of immigrants lured to the United States from India and trapped in forced labor—told by the visionary labor leader who engineered their escape and set them on a path to citizenship.

In late 2006, Saket Soni, a twenty-eight-year-old Indian-born community organizer, received an anonymous phone call from an Indian migrant worker in Mississippi. He was one of five hundred men trapped in squalid Gulf Coast “man camps,” surrounded by barbed wire, watched by guards, crammed into cold trailers with putrid toilets, forced to eat moldy bread and frozen rice. Recruiters had promised them good jobs and green cards. The men had scraped up $20,000 each for this “opportunity” to rebuild hurricane-wrecked oil rigs, leaving their families in impossible debt. During a series of clandestine meetings, Soni and the workers devised a bold plan. In The Great Escape, Soni traces the workers’ extraordinary escape, their march on foot to Washington, DC, and their twenty-three-day hunger strike to bring attention to their cause. Along the way, ICE agents try to deport the men, company officials work to discredit them, and politicians avert their eyes. But none of this shakes the workers’ determination to win their dignity and keep their promises to their families.

Weaving a deeply personal journey with a riveting tale of twenty-first-century forced labor, Soni takes us into the lives of the immigrant workers the United States increasingly relies on to rebuild after climate disasters. The Great Escape is the gripping story of one of the largest human trafficking cases in modern American history—and the workers’ heroic journey for justice.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Race, Sociology, Audiobook, Economics

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 24, 2023

Reviews

[Nathan Shuherk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The personal journalism approach to this story was an unexpectedly great insight into a history I simply know nothing about - certainly makes me curious about the broader spectrum of forced labor that’s likely far more rampant and pervasive than media will ever acknowledge

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly remarkable tale with twists and turns I didn't foresee. Saket Soni has done an amazing job in retelling the individual stories of the struggle of these men that were promised green cards in return for their skilled labor in rebuilding areas of America after natural disasters, including helping rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Quotes:

Saket Soni expresses concern that the men are too optimistic regarding their march to Washington, D.C. "They hadn't fully absorbed what we were up against. They were clear that winning status would take a fight but for them the march was the fight."

Regarding Nelson and Joyce Johnson: "Nelson went to seminary and was converted to Doctor King's ideal of the beloved community that a struggle for racial and economic justice could reconcile oppressors and oppressed if it was founded in truth telling and non violence. The Johnsons built this place, the beloved community center to realize that principle in Greensboro."

Saket Soni travels back to India to meet with each of the families of the men. Here is part of the conversation between Soni and Mr. Narayanasamy, the father of one of the men:

Narayanasamy: "Tamil boys and girls have always gone away to work, especially from this area, often they haven't come back."
Commentary from Soni - "For generations from his town and others nearby young workers had been recruited, defrauded, sometimes kidnapped outright to be indentured in the British empire's plantations."
Soni: "It shouldn't be that way, I said."
Narayanasamy: "That is true, but so is this, as a result there is no place in the world without a Tamil, isn't it. Everywhere they are going Tamil's plant a garden, always a garden, even in your New Orleans now there is Tamil, isn't it."

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

About 1/2 way through this book, I warmed up to it.

The story here is that in 2007 hundreds of men from India pay upwards of $20,000 to a recruiter to obtain jobs in America working for an oil rig parts company in Mississippi. It is hard work and they are living 24 men to a room.

It ends up being a human trafficking case in that they are working in such bad conditions and are not given the green cards they are promised. It turns out ICE is secretly working with Signal to keep the men undocumented. ICE goes after the workers rather than the company that has trapped them. Then hunger protests, lawsuits and court cases ensue over several years.

I think the story in the book is very relevant today and it was a genuinely interesting book. This is not the typical immigrant story that you see in the news mind you but I suspect that it happens on a scale that is larger than imagined. It is not hard to imagine companies secretly working with immigrations and customs agents to keep workers like these in indentured status. It is hard to imagine all those chicken farms being run without immigrant labor and some secret coordination with ice for example.

4 stars

[Sanjida · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came for an immigration story, and you may come for a labor story. But you'll get an epic - love stories, friendship, secrets, fear, hope, betrayal, and a bittersweet conclusion. The men's lives and stories are rendered with sensitivity and care. I almost cried when it was over. This is exquisitely crafted. Give this man a Pulitzer.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

After Hurricane Katrina, America needed experienced workers to replace destroyed oil rigs. India had welders looking to improve the lives of their families. The Americans promised work and a Green Card. It should have been a win-win agreement. The oil rigs would get built. The Indian workers would find financial security.

First, the workers were told to pay $20,000 to the job broker–with additional fees along the way. They were told not to mention they were charged for the jobs. Their paperwork and visas and temporary cards were held by the job broker. Once the men arrived in America, they were bused to a fenced Man Camp. Signal Corporation had spent a lot of money to provide housing for them, but the trailers built for four were overcrowded, the sanitation facilities were inadequate, and the food was meagre and badly prepared. Once a week, the men were bused to Walmart for an hour’s shopping.

Months passed. The temporary cards expired, and there was no hint of a green card. The men were trapped. They could not leave for other work. They worried they would be sent home before they earned the money to repay the loans for the $20,000 they borrowed to get the job.

Saket Soni was contacted. He saw their situation through new eyes: they were victims of a human trafficking scheme. Signal and the job brokers were making money of these men who had paid to be trapped in their system.

Soni worked with five hundred Indian workers, determined to find justice. They went through all the usual paperwork, but no action came. Finally, in desperation, the men escaped from the Man Camp and regrouped, returning in protest. It meant losing the jobs and the income needed to support families and protect them from the loan sharks.

When that didn’t work, a hundred men marched to Washington, D. C. When that didn’t work, they went on a hunger strike. And when that didn’t work, they spoke with Congressional leaders to tell their tales.

Soni discovered that informers had worked with Signal, and Signal had worked with ICE. The system was structured to protect the American company and to find the men guilty.

The love Soni had for these men shines through. We get to hear their stories and experience their lives, impressed by their transformation from powerless outsiders into experienced and capable advocates. I was so emotionally moved by a man who stayed on the hunger strike for twenty-two days, unwilling to give in.

It is an immersive story, an inspiring one, and an expose of our flawed immigration system.

(Also, the descriptions of Indian food made my mouth water! Soni includes a recipe, too.)

I received an ARC from the publisher through LibraryThing. My review is fair and unbiased.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

almost unbelievable

I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of the events of this book before reading it. I can hardly believe the incredible mettle these men endured for all the years they suffered. I’ll be haunted for a long time by all the voices that make up this tragedy, this inspiration, this tale of heroism and of bravery, growth, and forgiveness.

[Angie Lobo · Rating 5 out of 5]

When an old buddy writes a book you feel an obligation to read it. In this case it quickly shifted from obligation to honor. This story of a grassroots organizing victory has all the pieces of a great drama. It's non fiction but reads like the most suspenseful fiction thriller I've come across in years. It feels like a precious gift to be allowed a glimpse into the personal vulnerabilities of all the real live people in this book especially the author and workers, but even the bad guys have humanity. Saket draws accessible lines connecting how centuries and ongoing of labor exploitation and systemic racism have built the foundation for the circumstances in those book. There aren't explicit policy recommendations, but you can draw some conclusions. This book is beautiful, heart-rending, anger inducing, inspiring, and uplifting all in 330 pages. I really recommend this book not just because I know the author!

[Peter Tillman]

NY Times gave it a good review:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/bo...
Excerpt:
"“The Great Escape,” by Saket Soni, a labor organizer who assists exploited migrant workers, paints a similar picture of the odds of winning against the system. “Organizers fail, most of the time,” he writes. Nonetheless, this book manages to be an uplifting story about his fight against Signal International, a company that brought hundreds of welders and pipe fitters from India to Mississippi and Texas in the mid-2000s and kept them in semi-captivity in an unscrupulous bid to save money. Narrated by Soni, the book documents his uphill battle to free the Indian workers and put them on a path to apply for the green cards they were promised.
.
.
.
Soni does a good job of keeping the focus on the workers. He reveals just enough of himself to help us understand how he managed to persuade the men to trust him, as well as his own motivations for taking on their cause. It matters that he was born in India, as they were. At one point, a worker tells him that he must persuade the North Indians from the labor camp to join the walkout, or else the entire plan will fail. If he didn’t get his own people to follow him, nobody else would . . ."

[the.reading.snail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down. A must read and definitely one of the most shattering and eye opening books I’ve read in the past few years.

[Mark Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a crazy true-life story of a really nasty abuse of foreign workers by not just an American company, but the entire American system. One thing about true-life stories is that they can kind of prevent you from writing the most exciting book in the world. For example, the fat middle of this book is kind of dedicated to a lot of abortive and failed efforts to get things done. Not that exciting, but I guess it is how it happened.

Anyway, very interesting real-life story.

[Blaire Malkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soni tells the story of guest workers from India brought in under fraudulent pretenses and forced into huge amounts of debt with the promise of green cards. It reads like a novel as Soni describes their plight and gives light to their individual stories and experiences. Really well written and demonstrates the plight of those trafficked for labor and how difficult it is to escape these conditions.

[Jug · Rating 5 out of 5]

To repair damaged oil rigs after Katrina, Signal International used the false promise of American citizenship to ensnare hundreds of Indian workers into one of the largest cases of human trafficking and forced labor in the 21st century.

4.5

I go into non-fiction with pretty low expectations about the writing, given how many of these books are quickly written to capitalize on media buzz and without enough actual content to justify their page lengths, but I was pleasantly surprised here. Told through a highly detailed narrative, Soni does an impressive job to encapsulate the scale of the situation and humanize those involved. The intimate personal moments are really what sold this for me. It's immensely clear just how much Soni cares as every person involved feels complete, well-rounded, and all too real. If anything I think he probably goes too far on the emphasis. At around the 70% point I was feeling some doomer fatigue as Soni just kept escalating the story with one crisis after another. Yeah it actually happened but I think phrasing each situation like a climax and resolution only to have another one two chapters later was just a lot.

Anyways this is all me trying to say that man this made me feel things. Idk if it's just because it's about deeply relatable Indian people but this book had me anxious, overjoyed, angry, and at one point literally crying in the HEB checkout line.

oh and fuck ICE

[Marissa]

"Hemant! Have you become somebody?"
"Yes, sir."
"Lawyer? Doctor? Engineer?"
"Something better," Hemant would say. "An American." (p.26)

This is a story about one of the largest human trafficking cases in American history, which occurred in post-Katrina New Orleans where workers from India were lured by work repairing oil rigs with the (false) promise of a green card and were then shoved into labor camps and stripped of their freedom. I think it's not quite what people picture when they think of human trafficking, but it's a pretty clear case where people are essentially kidnapped through fraud to be exploited for their labor.

It's funny though; these workers are lured by the promise of America -- living in America is the greatest country in the world, surely America must be great. But the truth is, it's the migrant workers themselves that actually make America great. People who are willing to sacrifice their homes, their families, their bodies and their selves for the chance to work hard and build a better life for the people they love. And labor organizers who, in spite of failure after failure, are able to band together and become stronger than a crushing, callous, capitalist system. I promise you, America is great because of people like this.

The book is well organized and meticulous. Soni first establishes the humanity of the workers with intimate portraits before we see their immense costs. Hell, I can't produce a $20k sum with no preparation and I (in the grand scheme of the world, and certainly compared to low caste workers from a notoriously poor nation) am rich. I would have liked a bit more detail about the conditions of the camp, but the hints we receive sound gruesome and inhumane. The momentum persists through their escape, their march to Washington, and the ensuing hunger strike, but it does peter out, the narrative structure likely mimicking what it felt like to them as they experienced it. The investigation drags on, endless, the workers in a legal status limbo, unable to visit their families or pay back the loan sharks at home.

Organizers fail, most of the time. (p.98)

The book becomes harder to push through, because of failure after failure. And I think there is a grim inevitability that Soni presents us with -- the truth is, for every labor movement we exalt and remember, there are thousands of counterparts of failed movements. And the book does not present a straightforward victory. Much was lost along the way, and it's heartbreaking to read. The salve, to me, is that every organizational win is a win for us all. It's a win for America.

There is something beautiful about the level of idealistic faith the men had in the American system. Despite everything -- being trafficked, lied to, demeaned, deported -- they felt there was a way forward, because of course there is, it's America. As a homegrown American, it's so easy to become cynical and hopeless -- and don't get me wrong, the men do too. But every now and then, history falls on the right side.

I enjoyed how the book also discussed and interwove stories about solidarity with other organizers in the Deep South, particularly Black civil rights movements. That said, something is slightly glossed over -- the union workers that the company, Signal International, refuses to hire by instead outsourcing the work to the trafficked workers. Now, of course, none of this is the workers fault. They are not the ones with the power here. But it is notable, and mentioned in sidelong sentences, that there is, in fact, American labor ready to work. There is a ready and willing workforce. But they're union, they're expensive. So in truth, Signal is perpetuating multiple evils here, and no resolution was reached in this loose thread to me. Unfortunately, the system pits these two groups of workers together -- can you root for these men to receive their green cards and the opportunity to emigrate if it means putting American union workers out of jobs? The book doesn't grapple with this question, but the union workers certainly do -- we know, because they call ICE.

Finally, my last thought is around the concept of dignity. This book really hammered home to me dignity as a pillar of labor movements. I think it represents multiple things. Dignity of work -- all jobs are deserving of dignity, the people who do them should be respected, they should be paid a fare wage, treated humanely. If you work any job, you should have the dignity of being able to pay your bills, feel like a contributing member of society. If anything, labor itself comes with an implicit dignity -- not that you are defined by your work, but that you can derive dignity from it. The term "dignity of labor" was used by both Dr. King and Gandhi, it's a hallmark of labor movements. But I think there is something else too. I truly believe all humans have implicit, unalienable dignity. Every human is worthy of respect simply by being human. And I think, so often, work feels like it robs us of our dignity. It makes us feel like machines, or numbers, one-dimensional, whose only value is what we produce. Or worse, it makes us feel degraded, demeaned, subhuman. All we want, all these movements want, is a recognition that they are human. "Give us workers, not human beings."

There is a beautiful, ruminating epilogue on the role that forgetting plays in allowing our system of reliance on exploitative, unpaid, enslaved labor to continue in America over and over. Chattel slavery, sharecropping, the bracero program, and now guest migrant workers.

"Escaping work to get free was a dream as old as America... if you have a way out, it's because people died to make the road for you. Southern trade unionists. Black longshoremen. Enslaved Africans....they fought for you. They died for you. Why?
...
For Dignity."

[Jennifer-L-R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saket is a former co-worker of mine, and I’m so impressed with his book and the organizing campaign that it recounts. I was very engaged and invested in the leaders and in Saket. There are many good organizing lessons in the book, including the need to take risks and to have a sound strategy. This book is full of small victories, big losses, and heartbreaks. I was never bored. I do love a good organizing yarn, and Saket has spun one here.

[Hungry Rye · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s truly incredible that our education system neglects to teach anyone about labour trafficking and just how prominent it is in the 21st century. This book is absolutely terrifying, gut wrenching, heart warming, just so many different feelings! As a Marxist, I find that much of the information + overall story of the survivors is so important to understanding how violent capitalism is for the global working class. Imperialism is detrimental to our society and preys on the vulnerable in overly exploited nations. I found that this book did a fantastic job of highlighting the connections between our economic system and the bureaucrats whom claim to work for “the people”, this case only further shows how far from the truth that is. Abolish ICE, Abolish capitalism and white supremacy, eat the rich.

[Manish Mattawar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Great Escape by Saket Soni is a harrowing, powerful, and deeply moving account of a modern labor trafficking tragedy that unfolded in the U.S.—not in the distant past, but in 2006. I was stunned to learn about this story, which I had never heard before, and even more moved by the resilience of the Indian migrant workers and the unwavering efforts of Saket Soni, a labor organizer who stood by them.

The book is full of detail, emotion, and quiet strength. It’s heartbreaking at times, but also full of hope and courage. Soni’s storytelling is compelling and compassionate, shedding light on a system that so many overlook. This is one of those books that will stay with me for a very long time. A must-read.

[Kirsten Bardwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard of these events while screening films for a film festival, and I was horrified at the story and also at myself for not paying attention to this in the news when it broke.

I have only ever considered sexual trafficking victims. I had never thought about forced labor and the role of big business in trafficking.

Add this one to your list.

[Sczerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn’t stop listening to this terrific book, which is some of the best non-fiction I’ve picked up. Interested in a riveting tale, with great characters and a laugh? Read this. A delicious multi-faceted primer on how social justice work happens. Special unexpected shout out at the end to my friend Kerry O’Brien is the cherry on top.

[Kara Trimpin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story and so easy to read. A topic I was super interested in, but also feel that any American would get a lot out of reading this book

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am struggling with a review. Partly because I’m embarrassed for my ignorance: not realizing that human trafficking is not limited by my own imagination, that the USA is not above engaging in human trafficking in the capacity of adults, that in some instances, capitalism can surpass any boundary, and did Signal act on its own accord or did the Government contribute for the benefit of oil consumption? Saket Soni gave a raw and well written account of the largest human trafficking case in human history. I don’t recall a single word whispered on national television during its revelation, did you??

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A horrifying true story about companies trafficking workers in the US - and the way ICE works (against victims of trafficking, in cahoots with enslavers). Deeply personal & moving.

[Selina Bartels · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts off pulling you into the story and weaving an interesting tale. As it wears on it becomes a bit more tedious. All in all an understood story of fantastic work.

[Shelley Durbanis · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up. Great story of these immigrants journey with all it's twists and turns. Learned a lot about our American immigration system as it existed in the early 200o's. Especially loved how the author humanized these immigrants by including individual personal stories of some of the men.

[Karen Mcswain · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an important and well-written book. Non Fiction is usually a slower read for me, but I couldn’t put this book down. If you care about immigration, human rights, labor laws, corruption in government, corporate greed, and the ability to persevere and have hope when the odds are stacked against you, then this is the book for you. Run out to your local independent bookstore, and buy a copy now! Saket Soni deserves all your money.

[Ola · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4.5 Stars
THE GREAT ESCAPE chronicles one of the largest modern-day human trafficking cases in the U.S. Over 500 Indian men were held in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Katy, Texas, rebuilding infrastructure after Hurricane Katrina. Despite my familiarity with the area, I had sadly never heard of the events described in this book.

Much like JUST MERCY exposed me to the horrors of mass incarceration, THE GREAT ESCAPE illustrates the appalling realities of U.S. immigration law through the civil case David et al. v. Signal International, LLC.

Saket Soni, a labor organizer, writes about his experience initially encountering the Indian men and the long process of getting the government’s support instead of only its retribution. The narrative is shocking and gripping but also an informative introduction to the U.S. immigration process, covering H-1B Visas, green cards, and exploitive practices some companies use on immigrants. Despite its technical details, Soni’s book reads more like a memoir with its short and absorbing chapters. My only (mild) criticism is that the book occasionally feels distractingly like narrative nonfiction, with stylistic elements such as Soni “releasing a breath he did not know he was holding” and a completely unrelated prologue I kept waiting to be continued. Still, this fiction-like style will likely appeal to many readers, and most of my concerns about potentially stretched event recollections were alleviated by the numerous descriptive notes and citations at the end of the book.

I hope more people read THE GREAT ESCAPE as it’s an eye-opening introduction to the U.S. immigration system, forced labor, and human trafficking, which all deserve greater and more constructive attention.

[Nadine Keels · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Despite your fears, despite anything they've told you, you have labor rights in America."

No, I don't read a ton of nonfiction. But I immensely enjoyed this book. Not because the layered and grave issue it tackles somehow makes for a "fun" read. It certainly doesn't.

Yet, the author here hasn't presented a mere report about some..."thing" that happened. He presents a story, with the style of a skilled storyteller, that does justice to the fact that this story's people are indeed that.

People. Real. Human beings with real lives. Real loved ones. Real hopes. Real dilemmas they've faced.

That's what it is to be a migrant worker: you leave the ones you love to help them live. In America, he wouldn't have to choose. (Or so the migrant worker in this case, among too many other men, had been led to believe. Before he was trafficked.)

By turns, I found this accessible and engrossing story to be informative, angering (but unfortunately, not too surprising in regard to the angering parts), heart-stirring, heartbreaking, rousing, gratifying...

...and thought-provoking. Especially concerning the question of how a nation can, in a sense, forget its wrongs of the past when finding a way to repeat them in repackaged forms.

Hmm. Well. It may not be possible to keep everyone from forgetting that way. But books like this play a critical role in ensuring that someone remembers. And that kind of memory helps to empower those who can, who must, and who will be forces for good.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always find true stories fascinating. This book was a compulsive, must not put down read for me. Written with great pacing, characters that are completely engaging and an unforgettable story. I could not believe that I had never heard of this case before. Corruption is everywhere. Prejudice is still rampant. Justice seemingly always takes forever and is not guaranteed. And, yet there are people who still care and beautiful examples of human decency.

The ending is unsettling and true stories always are.

I hope we can host this author to speak at our next book festival and look forward to sharing this story with others once it is officially published.

Big 5 stars.

[Calvyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly and chronologically, Saket Soni tells the story of workers gamed by a fellow countryman, an American attorney, and an American cop-turned-labor-broker, who lured men from India to the US with promises of green cards and -- eventually -- reunions with their families in America. All for a price: $20,000. Soni focuses on a half dozen men, brave men, willing to share their stories. Soni reminds that a struggle is composed of individuals, each with a story, each with a reason for joining the struggle.

Selling land, mortgaging homes, borrowing from loan sharks, leaving families behind, the talented welders and pipefitters travel to jobs with Signal Corp, building offshore platforms in Mississippi and Texas; living 20 to a room in a well-guarded compound.

The table of contents describes the arc of the book in : Dreams, Man Camp, Escape, Truth March, Hunted, Faith and the Epilogue: Forgetting. Grouped under the Truth March heading is a chapter titled Department for Justice. So hopeful. Under the same heading (Truth March) Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren makes an appearance in the Hunger chapter, and again later with Congressman Benny Thompson...

The story is that of the men from India, of an activist who cared -- stepping into their lives with his skills and knowledge to organize, consult and plan with them. And the end notes document sources, affirming that this is not fiction; the story is true.


An excerpt (p. 258/9) --
Soni visits the family of one worker, Saravanan, in India, feeling guilty for failing to secure residence, and talks with his father after sharing pongal, rice served on banana mats:

"You know," he said, "I harvested that rice from my paddy field. Like my father. Like we were supposed to. But nor Saravanan. From the moment he could walk, he wanted to run away."
He was telling me I had nothing to apologize for. But I still felt the need to say it.
"I'm sorry. Truly. I thought I could help him. He trusted me. He followed me. I failed him, and you."
He turned to me. the corners of his eyes crinkled into mahogany-colored crow's feet.
"It is a great responsibility to bear others' burdens. Not everyone would try. sometimes, we fail. That's part of it, isn't it? So, thank you for your apology. I accept it."
We paused in the shade of a teak tree.
"You see," he said, "everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do. rice is supposed to grow. My son was supposed to get sick of harvesting it. He was supposed to travel our tow work, come into hardship, and meet you. You were supposed to try for him. And when you failed, you were supposed to come here to apologize. And I was supposed to serve you my rice and forgive you. Everything according to the plan."
"But aren't you upset at the situation Sarvanan is in?"
"Tamil boys and girls have always gone away to work," he said. "Especially from this area. Often, they haven't come back." For generations, from his town and others nearby, young workers had been recruited, defrauded, sometimes kidnapped outright to be indentured in the British Empire's plantations.
"It shouldn't be that way," I said.
"That is true. But so is this: as a result, there is no place in the world without a Tamil. Isn't it?"
. . . .
"Everywhere they are going, Tamils plant a garden. Always a garden. Even in your New Orleans now, there is a Tamil. Isn't it?"
"Your son."
"And over there, he will plant a garden. Under the soil, roots will grow, search for other roots. Over time, they will come together, roots clasped end to end. And so, after many, many years, these gardens will all join together. Isn't it?"

[Steve's Book Stuff · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the summer of 2006 a large group of industrial workers - pipefitters and welders - were recruited in India for work in the United States. The men (and they were all men) were promised green cards, which would allow them permanent residence in the US. They were also promised the ability to bring their families to America. All of these men paid the recruiters large sums of money - putting their families deep into debt on the promise of a better life in the US.

Yet what the men received were temporary worker visas. Their recruiters led them to believe that, with the help of an American attorney, they would be able to turn these visas into green cards after the workers came to America. Their families would be able to join them in nine months.

They were deceived. Temporary worker visas do not turn into green cards. There was no way they were going to be joined by their families.

The men were all hired to work for Signal International, a marine construction firm specializing in offshore oil rigs. Signal had a backlog of work following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and was in desperate need of additional workers. When an immigration lawyer promised he could bring over a large number of workers from India the company jumped at the chance.

The men were housed in “man camps” in Alabama and Texas, surrounded by barbed wire fences and heavily supervised. They were only allowed out of the man camps when accompanied by a minder from Signal. Housing was in crowded and poorly constructed dormitory style buildings. Food rations were inadequate.

The Great Escape tells the story of these workers and how they overcame very long odds to right the wrongs done to them. This is the true story of one of the largest human trafficking cases ever brought in the United States, as told by Saket Soni, the labor activist who helped them through their fight. With his help, they were able to arrange the simultaneous “escape” of almost all of the men from the man camps. Then their fight for justice began.

This book is the rare nonfiction that reads like a novel, as Soni expertly builds suspense with every twist and turn. He also does a masterful job of letting us into the lives of several of the men so that we can understand them as human beings.

I flew through this book. It’s so well written that it’s hard to put down. The Great Escape will appeal to anyone who appreciates an underdog story, and a true story at that.

RATING: Five Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

NOTE: I read an advanced review copy of the book courtesy of LibraryThing and the publisher Algonquin Books. The book is currently out in hardcover, audiobook and ebook, and will be released in paperback on January 16, 2024.

[Karen Norval · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Savage Inequalities, this is a life changing book. As someone who keeps up with the news, either I missed these events entirely or sadly, they weren’t given the time deserved on our local and National stations. Or maybe the sad reality is I made assumptions and skimmed past as these men were lumped into the category of “immigrant”, which of course immediately removed some of their humanity?

The book reads like a fast paced novel. The people are described like true characters, and after reading I desperately wish to know more about how their lives are now. So often we read about survivors of trauma, but this book has not victimised these men and their families- it makes them the heroes they actually are.

Last year I read two books about the “Dust Bowl” times in America. Now this book shows me yet again how easily we in the United States move past our history, (in this case very recent history) to allow our narrative to continue. Students need to read this book and they will look at their brown and descended from India friends through new eyes of respect and courage.

Another piece of this book is a mad respect for those who call themselves Community Organizers. I recall as recently as President Obama’s early introductions to the public how quickly people passed him off as “just a community organizer”. I had NO IDEA. The consuming work of passion and closed doors is truly not for the weak but it certainly is for the weary who fight for those unable to fight for themselves. For very little money, zero fame most of the time, and often against dangerous entities who may be willing to kill them rather than allow them to continue their work. You know those old movies about “government operatives and spies?” Still happening, but scarily sophisticated.


I don’t recall how I heard of this brand new book. I know I ordered it immediately after learning of it (it JUST came out) and I hope you will, too. It is beautifully written, an intense story woven with remarkable characters, and I cannot recommend it more highly.