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| "British guard on duty near guardhouse at entrance to unused cotton mill which has been converted into POW housing for German prisoners of war" (1939) by William Vandivert |
According to Soni, ICE and Border Patrol knew all Signal's workers were undocumented, but the only ones they arrested were those who escaped from the workcamp. As Soni explains, "The terror of being caught by ICE agents was exactly what kept the men trapped in the man camps" (284).
But why did the ICE agents participate in this scheme? What was their motivation? Why would they want to help a company that employed undocumented workers?
Only answer this question after you've read part six, chapter three and all of the preceding chapters.
When Ladner was first introduced in the book he was described as someone who enjoyed the part of hunting criminals but that it was taken away when ICE was formed. It does not seem like a stretch that his colleagues enjoyed the chase as well. So, it seems like they were bored and stuck in their jobs. However, when companies like Signal had escaped workers they now had someone to chase. If they were to raid these companies and deport the workers that were illegals they would not have anyone to chase and they would go back to their boring jobs. This seems like it is their motivation for not doing their jobs correctly. I do not think they wanted to help Signal but they did want a chance at some action in their jobs.
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