Immigration officers arrested almost 500 workers on Thursday, most of them South Korean citizens, on the construction of a battery work in Georgia in Georgia, since the Trump government continues its far-reaching approach to illegal immigration.
The South Korean government, an esteemed trading partner of the United States, has caused tensions, the RAID, which US official described as the largest enforcement company of the home protection lawyers at a single location. It also revealed competing interests within the Trump administration between the president's push of expanding production in the United States, and its aggressive efforts to act against immigration. The system in the center of the company was merged in the South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai.
The US immigration authorities said that the detained employees – many of them who were hired by subcontractors to end the construction of the work – worked illegally in the United States in the United States.
On Sunday, government officials in South Korea said that they had made an agreement with the United States that the Korean workers were to be freed and flew back to their home country. South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun left Seoul on Monday to travel to Washington to secure the release of the workers.
We know the following about the attack and its Fallout:
Where did it happen?
The raid aimed on a battery system for electric vehicles in Ellabell, GA, near Savannah. The facility belongs to two companies: Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution, both titans in the South Korean industry.
Immigration officers relegated to the work on Thursday and arrested hundreds who allegedly lived or worked illegally in the United States. The company was the product of a month -long examination, officials said.
From Thursday evening, most of the workers held were held in the folkston liability facility in South Georgia.
The unfinished battery system represented the type of strategic investments that the United States welcomed from South Korea in recent years – one that promised to create jobs and to build up a growing industry.
Georgia has eagerly applied for South Korean companies, with governor Brian Kemp visiting the country twice since taking office. Korean companies have invested in plants that produce batteries, semiconductor materials and solar collectors as well as a large-scale bakery and food sales center. The state has also enthusiastically accepted the Trump government's procedure. The Georgia State Patrol and the Georgia National Guard both worked closely with agents of the immigration authorities of the federal immigration, and the state patrol was involved on Thursday on Thursday.
“In Georgia, we will always enforce the law, including all state and federal immigration laws,” said the governor's office in an explanation. “All companies working in the state must follow the laws of Georgia and our nation.”
Who was arrested?
The raid swept 475 people, most of them South Korean citizens, said agents.
No Hyundai employees were arrested, said the car manufacturer. LG Energy Solution, the battery manufacturer, said 47 of his employees were arrested.
Much of the arrested South Korean workers were not direct employees of Hyundai or LG, but subcontractors, according to industry officials who were familiar with the project. The arrested LG employees contributed to monitoring the construction of the factory and had arrived in the USA with visas or as part of a Visa reference program, the officials said.
It was not clear how many of those who were imprisoned by ICE last week, built the work and how many workers became the installation and calibration of special devices or to form the local workforce.
Steven Schrank, a special representative who is responsible for the investigation of the home protection investigations, said during a press conference that some US citizens and lawful residents were also arrested in RAID.
The investigation has not yet shown any criminal complaints.
How did South Korea react?
Before the agreement to publish the workers on Sunday, South Korea said the alarm at the raid on Thursday, with the best government officials gathering for an emergency assembly. A spokesman for the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on a press conference on Friday that the South Korean embassy and consular officer in Atlanta and Washington were sent to the work.
“The economic activities of our investment companies and the rights and interests of our citizens may not be wrongly violated during the US criminal trial procedure,” said the Ministry in a statement on Friday.
The editorial published in Major South Korean newspapers criticized the attack, which came in the US South Korean relationships at a hard time. The Trump government has applied for more investments by the long -term ally and at the same time imposed tariffs and visa restrictions on the country that made these activities more expensive for South Korean companies.
At the end of July, both nations agreed to a deal that would increase 15 percent tariffs in most South Korean exports to the United States, of a speed of 25 percent that Mr. Trump threatened months earlier. But officials from the two countries still hammer the minutia of this agreement.
Only last month President Lee Jae Myung from South Korea traveled to Washington for a meeting with Mr. Trump. Some observers feared that it could prove to be controversial, but it ultimately affirmed the long -standing alliance of the two nations.
South Korean companies have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the United States in recent years, which is partly affected by guidelines on incentives to produce semiconductors and electric vehicles. And Mr. Trump applied for even greater investments during the collective bargaining, whereby the White House achieved 350 billion US dollars from South Korea as part of the preliminary collective agreement announced in July. Mr. Lee promised an additional investment of $ 150 billion during his visit to the White House.
When Mr. Trump was asked on Friday whether he was concerned about his immigration agenda, which came together with his economic goals, he said that the immigration authorities only did their work.
“They came through illegally,” said Mr. Trump about the detained workers. “You came to our country. So we have to do our job.”
The raid also revealed the tensions of local workers because some American employees in the region have announced that they did not receive a fair chance of jobs in the complex, which was invoiced as the largest economic development project in Georgia's history.
What else is known about the work and what did the companies involved say?
The system was the subject of investigation reports from the local television station WTOC on poor security conditions and the use of non -authorized workers. According to the local law enforcement authorities, at least three workers died in the complex.
Officials from Hyundai and LG Energy Solution said that the security of their employees was critical and announced their own investigations into the RAID, including the practices of their subcontractors.
In an explanation, LG Energy Solution said that the company was prioritizing “the security and well-being of our team” and that its investments in $ 25 billion would create around 14,000 jobs in the United States by 2027. Hyundai said that the company was “obliged to maintain the highest security standards. It also said that its employees” have to comply with the US laws and regulations completely “.
John Yoon, Jenny Gross, Aimee Orthodox, Ashley Ahn, Choe Sang-Hun, Rick Rojas, Lydia Depillis, Jim Lynn, Farah Stockman, Rebecca Elliott and Sean contributed the reporting.
