Answer:
It indicates that the gangsters are looking for vulnerable people.
It supports the idea that the gangsters are involved in criminal activities.
Explanation:
In Sonia Nazario's "Enrique's Journey", the protagonist Enrique left home on a quest to find his real mother who had left him to work in America. Feeling a sense of abandonment from his mother Lourdes, leaving him in Honduras, and his beloved uncle's death compelled him to try to reunite with his mother no matter what, thus his journey.
The given passage is from the chapter "Staying Awake" where Enrique along with others were atop the moving train trying to get to America. The excerpt reveals how those on the roof of the trains were targeted by the gangsters operating around the area. The vulnerable people end up being the target of these gangsters who are involved in illegal criminal activities, with the "<em>forgiving</em>" nature of the police in Chiapas. The author's use of the word "prowl" supports the dangerous manner in which these gangsters are involved, leading further to the suffering of others.
