US immigration authorities said on Friday that they had detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals, when hundreds of federal agents raided Hyundai’s sprawling manufacturing site in Georgia, where the Korean automaker makes electric vehicles.
The Pew Research Center, citing preliminary Census Bureau data, said the US labour force lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January through July.
I’ve seen this article a whole bunch now, and I have yet to see anyone day if these SK workers were even here under false visas or something? They say they haven’t been charged, but are they just rounding up “legitimate” immigrant labor now, not even holding to their own flimsy pretense?
from another source
Some of the detainees had entered the country unlawfully, while others arrived on temporary visas or through a waiver program that does not allow employment, according to Steven Schrank, the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Security Investigations.
Attorney Charles Kuck, who represents two detained workers, told AP his clients arrived under the visa waiver program and were in the country legally for tourism or business. He said one had been in the U.S. for only two weeks and the other for 45 days, both planning to return home soon.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson Lindsay Williams told AP that some individuals were detained due to prior criminal records and added, “Once citizens have identified themselves, we have no authority” to detain them. Hyundai stated Friday that it believed none of its direct employees were among those detained and said it was reviewing its practices to ensure legal compliance by contractors and subcontractors.
Thank you! That’s… not much better, but at least it hasn’t gotten quite as bad as it’s going to…?
sigh. This shit is so fucking exhausting. just. fuck.
Using falsely visas is SK’s fault, but raiding $7.6 billion plant with excessive force is too much. They could have given a warning and time to clear up the visa paperwork beforehand, but they didn’t.
cruelty is the point
It was an EV plant.
The disruptions are by design.
Trump is going to take over the manufacturing plant.
Appreciate the context. Still feels excessive, but at least more warranted than a lot of their other activities. I really hope they just go after corporations, but I doubt they will.
Seems like it. Pretty sure all they care about is being able to report “we arrested 450 illegals” regardless of the actual truth of the situation.
and by ‘illegals’ they mean ‘brown people’ (regardless of origin or nationality or legal status to work here).
or even actual brownness. i have a friend from Ukraine that got called “wetback”. worth noting, she’s a US citizen. so… you know… look. racists aren’t exactly known for their critical thinking skills
I know this isn’t a real source but I know someone who works at this plant and he said most were here on 3 month visit visas.
Essentially they’d be paid back in SK for their 3 months of work and would cycle in and out in rotations.
Out of all the insane raids ICE has conducted, this one is actually quite a big find since it’s Hyandai essentially bypassing visa requirements for cheap labor.
Most likely ICE isn’t sure whether to charge the immigrant workers or fine Hyandai since Hyandai is the one that offered them jobs and told them the process of working under a visit visa.
I think they will likely get deported without any criminal charges or individual fines, but will obviously get blacklisted from any future entrance into the US.
So many incorrect spellings of Hyundai, hopefully ice does the same and the case goes nowhere.
Samsung must have corporate beef with them because my autocorrect is set to Hyandai and not Hyundai lmao
햔대 ㅋㅋ
하얀 데이
they keep saying “white day” instead of “modern” 현대 lol
… You what
I have yet to see anyone day if these SK workers were even here under false visas or something?
Umm… Trump regime already removed their hoods off about supposedly removing illegal immigrants. It is pogrom towards any foreigners.
This is a way to hurt Teslas competition. Nothing else.
I still wouldn’t buy a tesla. Even if it were the last available vehicle to purchase in North America. I’d rather walk everywhere
I’ve gotten along all my life without driving. There’s disadvantages, of course, but there are also advantages like not having to worry about finding a parking space
I’m waiting for Hyundai to close the doors while they sort out specialized skilled labour issues.
Just like Southpark…
Wow, they’re not being deported to South Sudan!? Time to give Trump that Nobel Peace prize!
So instead of employing Americans through moving production to the US, they just imported Koreans lol.
Oh. I should really read articles from time to time. I have seen this through headlines and always assumed it was about the country of Georgia, not the state in the USA.
