Many car workers arrested in a huge immigration raid in the American workplace had violated their visitors’ visas, according to officials.
Immigration and customs application (ICE) said that 475 people, mainly South Korean citizens – worked illegally in a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia on Thursday.
“People in short-term or recreational visas are not allowed to work in the United States,” said ICE, adding that the RAID was necessary to protect American jobs.
South Korea, whose companies have promised to invest billions of dollars in the main American industries in the coming years, in part to avoid prices, sent diplomats in Georgia and called to respect the rights of its citizens.
The workers arrested were held in an ICE installation in Folkston, in Georgia, until the agency decides where to move them afterwards.
Among the detained people, 300 are Korean nationals. Hyundai said in a statement that none of them was directly employed by the company.
LG Energy Solution, which operates the factory with Hyundai, told the BBC that its top priority was to ensure the safety and well-being of its employees and partners and that it “will fully cooperate with the competent authorities”.
On Friday, in a statement, the Ice Office of the City of Savannah said that the RAID was “part of an active and in progress criminal investigation”.
“The individuals arrested during the operation proved to be working illegally, in violation of the terms of their visas and / or their statutes,” added the press release.
But Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer in Atlanta, told the New York Times that two of his clients had been wrongly taken in the raid.
He told the newspaper that the couple was in the United States under a Visa renunciation program which allows them to travel for tourism or business up to 90 days.
“My clients did exactly what they were allowed to do as part of the Visa renunciation-attending business meetings,” he said on Friday.
He said one of them arrived on Tuesday and was to leave next week.
Ice said one of the detained people was a Mexican citizen and a green card holder with a long rap sheet.
The individual had already been found guilty of drugs, trying to sell a stolen weapon and theft, according to Ice.
The Special Investigations Agent on Internal Security (HSI), Steven Schrank, said: “We welcome all the companies wishing to invest in the United States.
“And if they need to bring workers for construction or other projects, it’s good – but they have to do so in the way.
“This operation sends a clear message that those who use the system and undermine our workforce will be held responsible.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea responded to the RAID by a declaration saying: “The economic activities of Korean investment companies and the rights and interests of Korean citizens must not be unjustly violated during the US laws of law.”
The RAID increases a possible tension between two of the main priorities of President Donald Trump – strengthening manufacturing in the United States and repressing illegal immigration. This could also stress on the country’s relationships with a key ally.
President Trump said in the oval office on Friday: “They were illegal foreigners and the ice was just doing his job.”
Questioned by a journalist about Seoul’s reaction, he said: “Well, we want to hear ourselves with other countries, and we want to have a great stable workforce.
“And we have, if I understand correctly, many illegal foreigners, some not the best people, but we had many illegal foreigners who worked there.”
Trump has worked to attract major investments from other countries while taking prices which, he said, will give manufacturers incentives to make goods in the United States.
The president also campaigned on the fight against illegal immigration, telling the supporters that he thought that the migrants were flying jobs to the Americans.
The factory, which makes new electric vehicles, had been presented by the Republican Governor in Georgia as the largest economic development project in state history, employing 1,200 people.
