The Great Escape

A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America

By: Saket Soni

Narrated by: Saket Soni

The astonishing story of immigrants lured to the United States from India and trapped in forced labor—an "eye-opening" "must-read" told by the visionary labor leader who engineered their escape and set them on a path to citizenship (The New York Times Book Review). ​

In late 2006, Saket Soni, a 28-year-old, Indian-born community organizer received an anonymous phone call from an Indian migrant worker inside a Mississippi labor camp. He and 500 other men were living in squalor in Gulf Coast “man camps,” surrounded by barbed wire, watched by armed guards, crammed into cold trailers with putrid portable toilets, forced to eat moldy bread and frozen rice. Worse, lured by the promise of good work and green cards, the men had desperately scraped together up to $20,000 each to apply for this “opportunity” to rebuild oil rigs after Hurricane Katrina, putting their families into impossible debt. During a series of clandestine meetings, Soni and the workers devise a bold plan. In The Great Escape, Soni traces the workers’ extraordinary escape, their march on foot to Washington DC, and their 23-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 21st-century forced labor, Soni takes us into the hidden lives of the foreign workers the US increasingly relies on for cheap skilled labor to rebuild after climate disasters. The Great Escape is the astonishing story of one of the largest human trafficking cases in modern American history—and the workers’ heroic journey for justice.

©2023 Saket Soni (P)2023 Algonquin Books

Critic reviews

“It’s paced like a thriller, written like a poem, and full of vivid characters who’d enliven any novel, but it’s the true story one of the largest modern-day trafficking incidents in recent history and how Saket Soni and his crew went after the powerful perpetrators. A story as important as it is riveting to read.”—Rebecca Solnit, author of Orwell’s Roses

“One of this country’s most remarkable activists is also an extraordinary writer. From the very first moment of this world-spanning story Saket Soni has you in his grip. The Great Escape makes you feel astonishment, compassion, anger, and, at the end, something rare these days—hope.”—Adam Hochschild, New York Times bestselling author of King Leopold’s Ghost and Rebel Cinderella

“Saket Soni’s The Great Escape is a gripping, devastating, and powerfully written book, a must-read for anyone interested in the real world stakes of migration, corporate corruption, and federal law enforcement."—Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, author of Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)

The Power of the People

I am inspired by the organizing campaign and more determined than ever to continue the fight for Immigration Reform.

Very interesting, analytical and colorful

The author does a wonderful job is not only bring people and actions to life, but in analyzing the process of this particular set of processes and strategies. Very interesting!

Riveting!

I was completely engrossed and invested in the individuals and families involved in this account. Tears flowed out of my eyes time and time again along with alarm and anger learning about their lives and sacrifices. Thank you for sharing your lives with us.

A riveting recount of one of the biggest human trafficking case in us history.

I was gripped from the title. I hung on to every word rooted for the men and cried with them. the Immigrant story is one of many twists and turns as I know all to well. it's really well written and I'd love it to be a movie

Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world

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 true story. A delicious multi-faceted primer on how social justice work happens.

The world needs more people like Saket Soni

This book was a learning experience for me, on topics like immigration and forced labor, which seemed abstract and complex, but after reading this, it helped me understand it in terms of real people's real lives. The author is an excellent storyteller, adding "poetry"/creativity to his very well researched account. This is how history SHOULD be taught, in a way that makes it relevant and interesting because it is relatable, including many individual real human stories. I came away feeling that it isn't necessarily "evil" individuals who do bad things because of their own choices, but rather it is the system, the structure, the rules - which affect us all as if we are actors playing certain roles. There is nothing new under the sun, yes - history absolutely repeats itself. I am impressed by the immense amount of work the author did over so many years, dealing with unpleasant government bureaucracy in an organized and meaningful way, in order to help people. Also, I love it when authors narrate their own work, because only the author can speak the words the way they are intended to be heard. Excellent book.

A gripping tale of 21st century worker exploitation and indentured survitude

A gripping tale of human greed and desire to subjugate fellow humans for economic gain or just for the perverse pleasure of exercising control over someone else. An amazingly well written tale that is beautifully narrated by the author.
It is a beautiful testament to the perseverance and commitment to stand up for justice against unimaginable odds, both by the workers and the author and his organisation. Being an immigrant from India working in the software sector, not even in my most horrific nightmares, I could have imagined this happened in 21st century America, the land of free and home of the brave!

Great story, great writing.

I had to make an overnight trip to a city 6 hours away. I drove by myself in the dark and the rain both ways. Having this book to listen to made it a fun, exciting experience. It would be an inspiring story if it were fiction, but it actually happened.

I want to meet them all

This book makes you want to meet the people who had the strength to persevere. As a heavy equipment operator, though to meet the child who wants to be an excavator would be a dream. Hi Bobby

what a moving story!

I am so impressed by this book. It is very well written and performed. But more importantly, the story is so moving. What these men went through is maddening. I'm so glad they were able to escape the inhumane conditions.