When a coalition of federal and local law enforcement agents swarmed a Bartow County flooring manufacturer late last month, some workers picked up and ran, mistakenly thinking an immigration raid was taking place .
The authorities’ arrival at Wellmade Industries in Cartersville, roughly 40 miles north of Atlanta, was the culmination of what an official described as a “massive” labor trafficking investigation.
At an April 4 news conference, Steven Schrank, special agent with a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said law enforcement encountered 60 victims of “horrific” forced labor.
1,500 unauthorized immigrants arrested in Georgia since Trump’s return
He confirmed that the plant was just one of eight locations searched, in addition to seven residences where workers were being held in cramped conditions…