The South Korean government said the Trump administration is delaying the return of more than 300 Korean nationals to the country. They were among the more than 475 people detained during an immigration raid last week at a Hyundai plant in Georgia.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the Koreans lacked proper employment status. The raid was reported as the largest single-site enforcement in DHS history and has strained relations with an important U.S. ally.
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Why is the US delaying the return?
The U.S. was supposed to release the detained nationals at 6 a.m. Wednesday. Most were being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Folkston, Georgia. Officials sent 10 women detainees to another facility about 200 miles away.
However, South Korean officials said the departure of the nationals has “become difficult” because of “circumstances on the U.S. side.” The South Korean Foreign Ministry is still working with American officials to get its citizens out of the U.S. as soon as possible.
The foreign ministry did not elaborate on those “circumstances,” but the Korea Herald reported that the South Korean government doesn’t know why the U.S. is delaying the return.
South Korea has chartered a plane to repatriate the detainees, but the Korea Herald reported on disagreements over how the U.S. would transport them to the airport to board the flight.
South Korea reportedly opposes having the detainees handcuffed until they reach the airport, and it wants the U.S. to recognize that they have chosen to “voluntarily depart” so they can seek entry back into the U.S. in the future. However, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said all those detained during the raid will be “deported,” meaning they could not legally return to the U.S.
Why did ICE raid the plant?
The White House said federal authorities raided the Hyundai plant last Thursday, Sept. 4. The plant — about 25 miles outside Savannah, Georgia — currently employs about 1,400 people and is expected to eventually employ a total of 8,500 people.
The White House said ICE raided the plant because workers there weren’t using proper work authorizations.
However, a leaked ICE document shows at least one of the workers currently detained had a valid work visa. According to The Guardian, federal authorities “mandated” that the man agree to his removal despite not having violated the terms of his visa.
The workers either had ESTA B visas or B-1 visas.
ESTA visas allow people from countries under the Visa Waiver Program, like South Korea, to come to the U.S. for up to 90 days for business or tourism without applying for a visa.
A B-1 visa is roughly the same, but for people from countries not on the Visa Waiver program.
How will this strain relations between the US and South Korea?
The incident is already straining business prospects with the U.S. Following the raid, Hyundai Motors told employees to delay U.S. business trips unless the trip was deemed “indispensable.”
South Korean firms had pledged to invest $150 billion in the U.S. to help strike a tariff deal with President Donald Trump. In that deal, Hyundai alone lifted $26 billion in investments to the U.S.
Foreign manufacturing plants drive a large amount of business to the areas in which they are built. They often spin off large suppliers and service jobs. Hyundai projects its business investments in Georgia will generate about 40,000 jobs, directly or indirectly.
This friction between the two countries and the possibility of business hold-ups could push foreign companies to take their investments to other countries. Giovanni Peri, a professor of economics at the University of California at Davis, told The Washington Post that he believes this could make companies wary.
“Episodes like this are going to make many companies way more cautious before investing here,” he said. “The goal of this administration’s tariffs was luring exactly these kind of factories. And now we are closing the door to some of these companies.”
What happens next?
The plane that was supposed to transport the detained Korean nationals departed South Korea just before 10:30 a.m. local time, heading to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
South Korea Foreign Minister Cho Hyun was expected to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday. However, the meeting was postponed to Wednesday morning after both nations had had issues scheduling the meeting, according to the Korea Herald.
