The Chinese owner of a Cartersville-based flooring manufacturer, Wellmade Industries, his nephew, and another migrant are now facing federal charges in a case of forced labor of Chinese migrants.
The U.S. Attorney’s office of the Northern District of Georgia have charged Wellmade Industries owner Zhu Chen, along with his nephew, Jiayi Chen and a Chinese national named Jianjun Lu, with forced labor, conspiracy to commit forced labor, and alien harboring arising from alleged illegal operations at the company, the office said in a Thursday press release.
“The defendants allegedly threatened foreign workers with physical violence, deportation, and crippling debt; forced them to work lengthy shifts; and housed them in overcrowded and dirty residences,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “My office will ensure that predators who traffic at-risk laborers and violate our immigration laws to enrich themselves are investigated, apprehended, and prosecuted.”
Officials allege that the three suspects lured Chinese migrants to Georgia with promises of jobs with B-1 and L-1 visas to work at Wellmade. But when the migrants arrived, they were forced to work 12-hour shifts in unsafe conditions, were paid far less than they were promised, were threatened with deportation, and told that would be charged exorbitant fees if they refused orders. They were also crowded into apartments owned by the suspects and not allowed to live freely in their own lodging. Many of the workers were in the U.S. illegally, so felt pressured to obey the orders of the suspects.
“The federal indictment of Zhu Chen, Jiayi Chen, and Jianjun Lu marks an important step forward in our pursuit of justice for the victims in this alleged forced labor scheme,” said Steven N. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama. “HSI and our law enforcement partners remain focused on uncovering labor trafficking networks, protecting victims, and holding accountable those who use coercion, threats, and exploitation to profit from vulnerable individuals.”
There is growing evidence that foreign nationals abuse the nation’s immigration laws to create profitable business enclaves all across the United States. These enclaves are created and run by Indian and East European truckers, Indian white-collar workers, Mexican gangs, and many others, and they bring in both legal and illegal aliens for forced labor.
Indeed, charges of forced labor against migrants living in the U.S. are mounting. Early in 2025, for instance, a migrant doctor from India was arrested and charged with forcing several illegal aliens into forced labor at her home in New Jersey. At the end of the previous year, an alien in the U.S. illegally was charged with kidnapping a Guatemala woman and forcing her into servitude.
Also, in April of last year, an Obama-backed Chinese company in Ohio was also busted for importing Chinese citizens into the U.S. and then forcing them into slave-like conditions.
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