(AFP) – President Donald Trump on Sunday warned foreign companies to obey US law after immigration officials arrested some 475 individuals, including South Korean workers at a Hyundai-LG battery plant being built in the southern state of Georgia. The arrests were made in a raid by US authorities on Thursday during the largest single-site operation implemented so far under Trump’s nationwide anti-migrant drive.
“Please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws,” the president posted on social media Sunday. “Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people… What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers.” Footage of the raid showed detained workers, in handcuffs and with chains around their ankles, being loaded onto a bus.
Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia, told reporters that the raid targeted “unlawful employment practices going on at this massive, 100-acre construction site.” LG Energy Solution has said 47 of its employees were arrested — 46 South Koreans and one Indonesian. The company has also said about 250 of those arrested were believed to be employed by its contractor, and most of them were South Koreans.
In addition to being a key security ally on the Pacific Rim, South Korea is Asia’s fourth-biggest economy and a key automaker and electronics producer with multiple plants in the United States. Seoul has heeded Trump’s repeated call for global investment in US businesses during his tariff negotiations with countries around the world. Last month, hours after South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Trump in Washington, Korean Air announced it would purchase 100 Boeing aircraft, inking the largest deal in South Korea’s aviation history. Seoul also pledged $350 billion in US investment in July. And South Korea secured an agreement for a 15 percent tariff for exports to the United States — significantly below the 25 percent that Trump had earlier threatened to introduce.
– Migrant crackdown – Domestically, Trump has promised to revive the US manufacturing sector while also vowing to deport millions of undocumented migrants. While admonishing investors on Sunday to abide by the law, Trump appeared to acknowledge a skill deficiency in the domestic workforce. “ICE was doing right because they were here illegally,” he said of the raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that has strained relations with South Korea. “But we do have to work something out where we bring in extras so that our people can be trained so that they can do it themselves.”
Seoul said Sunday that negotiations to secure the release of the detained workers had been concluded and they would soon be freed and flown home. “The immediate priority now is the swift release of both our LG Energy Solution employees and those of our partner firms,” company executive Kim Ki-soo told reporters before boarding a plane to Georgia earlier in the day. Hyundai has said none of those arrested are its employees.
With hundreds detained, the size of the Georgia raid is a departure from operations elsewhere. In Los Angeles, immigration agents have repeatedly raided small businesses, targeting hardware stores, restaurants, car washes, and street vendors.
© 2024 AFP
