When police raided a factory in Georgia, they found dozens of Chinese nationals being kept in near slave-like conditions, and authorities say they were pressed into service by a forced labor trafficking ring.
Last month, agents from several agencies raided Wellmade Industries in Cartersville, Georgia, 40 miles north of Atlanta, and what they found shocked them, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Federal officials said that around 60 Chinese nationals were being held in tiny rooms and forced to work long hours in the flooring manufacturing plant. The exploited workers at Wellmade are just a few of the many exploited workers the Trump administration has rooted out.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Steven N. Schrank said the conditions these workers were living in was “horrific,” and noted that he and his fellow agents were investigating eight other locations for similar offenses.
Three Wellmade Industries officers were arrested, including company owner, Zhu Chen, his nephew, Jiayi Chen, and company associate Jian Jun Lu.
At the bond hearings for the suspects, assistant district attorney Austin Waldo claimed that officials of the company immediately confiscated the workers’ travel and ID documents as soon as they arrived at the plant to make it harder for them to leave.
Prosecutors also say that the workers were required to work 12-hour shifts and then were not allowed to leave the plant or the rooms they were being housed in.
“This operation underscores our steadfast commitment to combat labor trafficking and hold accountable those who exploit vulnerable individuals for profit,” Special Agent in Charge Schrank said in a press release. “The arrests of Zhu Chen and Jiayi Chen, along with the rescue of numerous victims, reflect the tireless efforts of HSI and our law enforcement partners. We will continue to leverage all available resources to dismantle these criminal networks and bring perpetrators to justice.”
Schrank also said that dozens of victims employed at Wellmade Performance Flooring were rescued from labor exploitation.
Despite that China is one of our most dangerous, self-avowed enemies, Joe Biden allowed a record number of Chinese nationals to illegally enter the U.S. during his disastrous four years in the White House. Last December, it was estimated that more than 176,000 had entered the country, many of whom present a national security threat.
Since taking office, the Trump administration has initiated a record number of worksite enforcement cases.
A recent X post from Immigration and Customs Enforcement notes that “ICE HSI arrests 1,000+ illegal alien workers and proposes nearly $1M in employer fines since Jan. 20 as part of its worksite enforcement mission.”
“Employment records subpoenaed from about 1,200 businesses,” the post added.
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