Ice detention in a plant in Georgia Hyundai create new tensions with South Korea: NPR

The Hyundai Motor Group Factory in Ellabell, Georgia, on Friday. The day before, federal agents arrested 475 people in the car manufacturer's manufacturer. Parker Puls/Bloomberg via Getty pictures hide educational signature

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The South Korean Foreign Minister is considering a trip to the USA to meet the Trump administration after hundreds of South Korean citizens in Georgia were arrested in a battery for electric vehicles this week.

“We are deeply concerned and feel a strong sense of responsibility towards the arrests of our nationals,” said Foreign Minister Cho Hyun at an emergency meeting in Seoul, according to the National Yonhap News Agency.

He said that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called for all efforts to quickly solve the matter, “said” emphasized that the rights and interests of South Korean citizens and the business activities of South Korean companies that invest in the USA must not be violated. “

The US immigration and customs authorities arrested 475 people, most of them South Korean citizens, near a massive battery system for electric vehicles in Ellabell, GA, near Savannah. The system is a joint venture between the Hyundai Motor Group and the LG Energy Solution.

ICE published a video of what civil servants say is the greatest enforcement process in the history of the home protection examinations. It shows the officials who captivate workers and load them into Georgia prison buses.

“This operation underlines our commitment to the protection of jobs for Georgians and Americans,” said Steven Schrank, Special Agent, who is responsible for the investigation of the home protection examinations for Georgia and Alabama, during a press conference in which the operation was announced. “We send a clear and clear message that those who take advantage of our workforce undermine our economy and violate federal laws.”

He said it was not an operation in which agents simply rounded people together and put them in buses, but the result of a month -long examination. According to Schrank, the workers were either illegally present in the United States or worked illegally.

The arrests contribute to a tension with an important ally when President Trump pushed on trade agreements, and more South Korean investments in the US Hyundai also has a car system in Montgomery, Ala.

“I would say that it was illegal extraterrestrials, and ICE only did his job,” said Trump when he was asked in the White House on Friday after the attack.

The Democratic US Senator Raphael Warnock from Georgia says that the RAID questions about the president's immigration strategy and how companies were able to employ employees without adequate documentation.

“Companies should not be able to get rich in Georgia by taking advantage of immigrants and they are exposed to politically motivated raids and violations of the appropriate procedure,” said Warnock in a statement. “It is bad for our economy, bad for Georgia's workers and bad for Georgia families who live in fear of this administration.”

Hyundai Motor Co. says it is working to understand the specific circumstances of the arrests.

“Based on our current understanding, none of the detained people are employed directly by the Hyundai Motor Company,” said the company in a statement and promised an internal examination of compliance with employment.

“Hyundai has no tolerance for those who do not follow the law,” it said.

In an explanation to Yonhap on Saturday, LG Energy Solution announced that she exposed all business trips to the USA and asked the employees to visit the USA, to stay in its accommodations or to return to South Korea immediately. The company said its Chief Human Resources Officer was to the United States to tackle the problems on site.

“We will make all efforts to remedy the situation immediately, including the fast and safe return of all employees,” said LG Energy Solution.

Georgia officers have advertised the website of Hyundai Metaplant America as a game changer for the state. Republican governor Brian Kemp has explained that it granted workers “historical advantages” and new opportunities. In a statement, a spokesman for the Kemp Office said: “In Georgia we will always enforce the law, including all state and federal immigration laws,” and found that the Foreign Ministry for Public Security coordinated with ice cream to support the operation. The Georgia National Guard also offers ice cream administrative.

The approach of immigration also supports the support of the Republican US Senate candidate and the Member of the congress Buddy Carter, whose district of the plant grounds in Ellabell, GA, belongs.

“I welcome the Trump administration and our brave law enforcement officers to take brave measures to put American employees in the first place and to protect our communities from the scourge of illegal immigration,” said Carter in a social media post. “For anyone who believes that they can take jobs from hard -working Americans and give them illegal immigrants, note: Not under Donald Trump's clock.”