Maeve Bidonde, Staff Writer
On September 8th ICE conducted a raid on a Hyundai LG Factory Plant in Savannah, Georgia. The raid caused political tensions between the US and South Korea. Around 300 South Koreans were detained and have voluntarily returned home as of September 12th. The raid happened just 11 days after President Trump met with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. According to NBC News South Korea is the largest foreign direct investor in the US and South Korea had agreed to invest $350 million into the manufacturing sector to revitalize it. South Korea is also this country’s 6th largest trading partner.
According to NBC, ICE officials posted videos of the detained with shackles on their arms and their feet to social media. A South Korean news outlet Hankyoreh asked the question “Is this any way for the US to treat an ally?” Furthermore the people detained had Visas that allowed them to be in the US legally. Some who were detained admittedly were bending Visa rules to continue working in the US.
NBC News quotes Jenny Town, director of the Korean Program at the Stimson Center as saying “the longer this situation goes on, the less likely [South Korean] companies will want to bring their employees into the United States. It’s completely self-defeating for what the Trump administration has been lobbying other countries to do as far as investing in the U.S.”
Several lawmakers in South Korea have made demands about how the country should respond to the raid. According to CBS News, South Korean lawmaker Kim Joon Hyun demanded Foreign Minister Cho Hyun to investigate every single US National in South Korea teaching English because they could be working there illegally on tourist visas. Kim said “Are we giving our money, technology, and investment to the United States only to be treated like this?,” President Trump posted on Truth Social saying “your investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people.” The South Korean Foreign Ministry reached out to the Trump Administration 52 times since the inauguration to get Visas for highly skilled workers with no results.
The New York Times reports that US Officials called the raid the largest Homeland Security enforcement operation in a single place. This raid has brought forward conflicting interests within the Trump Administration. The Trump Administration seeks to expand manufacturing and crack down on immigration and this raid showed how expanding manufacturing is difficult when the other desire of the administration conducts a raid that caused a delay of months for the construction of the factory to finish in Georgia. Hyundai has said that none of their employees were detained while LG had 47 of their employees detained in the raid. NBC says that a Republican Congressional Candidate named Tori Braunum is taking credit for putting the plant on ICE’s radar for potential immigration issues.
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