While we hear about people coming over the southern border of the United States, we rarely hear about human smuggling along the northern border with Canada or from the oceans on both coasts. This tells of a ship that ran aground in New York City in the 1990's, what happened to the passengers, and the hunt for the Snakeheads responsible for the smuggling.

I enjoyed this book. I had never heard of the Golden Venture. Seeing how it all comes together from the beginning to the end was fascinating. It is good knowing that the system worked although slowly. The people who were smuggled in from China had quite the trip. I liked seeing the trip from signing up with Sister Ping to getting a ship then getting on it then the trip from China to the U. S. with the grounding of the ship, and the consequences of being caught. I liked knowing that even overseas that someone was reporting what was happening although there was one big circumstance that changed how the information was received. Read the book and find out what it was. I also liked following the law enforcement agencies within the U. S. and foreign countries as they track down the snakeheads as well as those who helped them.

I was glad that one group of people who ended up in prison in Pennsylvania were followed during their imprisonment and releases. To see that community come together--lawyers, townsfolk, and finally politicians--restores my faith in humanity. The area is described as conservative but the townsfolk carried about the men in prison. They prayed and helped them. The men's art became a way to thank the townsfolk and make money for them. I liked how friendships were formed and lasted.

No matter how it all started, I have a better understanding of why people leave their countries of origin to come to the United States. This is worth reading. ( )

Best for:
People interested in the concepts of immigration and human trafficking.

In a nutshell:
Keef explores the life of Sister Ping, a woman who helped smuggle thousands of people to the US from China, and along the way looks at the history of immigration laws and the lengths people will go to when they want to build a different life.

Worth quoting:
N/A

Why I chose it:
I’ve read all of Keefe’s other books, and really enjoyed most of them.

Review:
I am someone who has managed to immigrate to a new country. I was born and raised in the US, but thanks to a skilled worker visa my partner was able to secure, I have managed to get the equivalent of a green card in the UK, bought a home and am waiting on a citizenship decision. My ability to do this required me to be married to someone with a ‘scarce’ skill set, and to have the funds to support such a move.

But so many people do not have that option but want it, and because of the absolutely mammoth hurdles people have to overcome to be able to immigrate to a new country, many seek alternative options. Enter the Snakehead, a.k.a. Sister Ping, a woman who took serious advantage of the desperation of those who wanted to leave China and move to the US.

The book starts with the horrors of a ship having washed ashore, with undocumented individuals thrashing about in the waves outside Queens, New York, emaciated and not able to speak English. It then drops back to explore the history of immigration laws in the US, interwoven with this story of a woman and those who worked for her, taking money from people in exchange for bringing them to the US.

I found the book itself a real challenge to get into for some reason, unlike Keefe’s books on the IRA and on the Sackler family. I think it is his first investigative book, so perhaps his craft has developed over time. But I also find the underlying topic so interesting, heartbreaking, and frankly infuriating. I find immigration laws overall to be a bit absurd in their complexity - I think it’s kind of silly to have borders as they are now. I of course understand the desire to self-govern and set ones own norms and rules within one’s own community (city/state/nation), but considering it’s basically just a roll of the dice in terms of where you are born, I don’t understand how anyone can rationalize making it so hard for people to move about.

What’s next for this book:
I’m still waiting for him to announce his next book, and I’ll definitely pick that one up whenever it comes out. ( )

An absolutely fascinating story about a Chinese human smuggler. I knew absolutely knowing about sister Ping before reading this book.
We always hear about illegal immigration from countries south of the border but at one time a lot of the illegals were Chinese. This covers it all, gangs, gang violence, smuggling, government incompetence, corruption all over the world, as well as the very human stories about those who will risk everything and pay anything to get into this country.
This is the second book by this author that I have read and both books are outstanding! ( )

Very well-researched and written, highly recommended. ( )

Chinatown in New York City has always seemed a bit mysterious – in the larger city but not totally of it. In this deeply researched and very well-written book, Patrick Radden Keefe tells the story of Sister Ping. She was one of the most successful alien smugglers. She operated out of a store and restaurant in Chinatown, responsible for bringing a large number of Fujianese into the U.S. using an international network.

Keefe provides all the background necessary to place Sister Ping’s operation into context within the history of Chinese immigration. He details the difficulty of penetrating her organization and how it finally happened. A great true account. ( )