Trump says that foreign workers are “welcome” after the ice raid in Georgia targets hundreds of South Koreans

President Donald Trump is trying to calm things up with South Korea after his administration arrested hundreds of workers at the Hyundai factory in Georgia earlier this month. Just hours after Reports indicate South Korea opens a human rights investigation into the detention of Korean employees, Trump said He does not “want to intimidate” foreign investment in the United States – which put a priority during its second administration.

On the fourth of September, ICE and customs enforcement agents (ICE) descended from the Hyundai and LG Energy Solutions battery plant, including about 500 workers, including about 300 South Korea workers. Ice officials claimed that the workers have exceeded their visas or were not allowed to work in the United States, According to NBC News.

Interview with workers by Times Korea Suppose they are “restricted and handcuffed” and then brought to the ice detention center in Folkson, Georgia, while their property and phones were confiscated. It is not clear whether workers are qualified to deport, like New York Times “In at least one case, officials admitted that the worker was working legally and forced him to leave the country anyway,” said on Friday.

As noted before TimesMany workers entered the United States with a B1 visa for work travel, allowing them to stay in the United States for less than six months, or in the visa waiver program, allowing them to stay for up to 90 days. Some companies use short-term visas instead of H-1B visas, which allow foreign workers to stay in the United States for up to six years, because they are cheaper, faster to obtain and less restricted. “The previous American administrations had sparked a party to this practice,” according to Guardian.

Trump has called on foreign companies to invest more money in the United States to avoid paying costly customs duties. Hyundai responded with the advertisement In March, it will spend $ 21 billion in the United States from 2025 to 2028, with plans to expand car production in the United States to 1.2 million cars every year and improve their facilities. The removal of hundreds of workers can delay these plans, as Hyundai has already done I paid the opening again From the Georgia factory.

The raid angered South Korean President Lee Jay Meong, who He called this step “Very confusing” said that companies in the country will be “very hesitant” about pouring more money in the United States. The South Korea security advisor, Wei Song Lake, added that The government will work With the United States to give up clearer instructions to the visa requirements, as well Reuters.

The accident puts the Trump administration on a shaky land with South Korea, which has long been an ally of the United States. in Published on social truthPresident Trump wrote that he wanted to bring foreign workers to the United States to “teaching and training” employees in the United States. “We welcome them, we welcome their employees, and we are ready to say proudly that we will learn from them, and do better than them in a” game “, at some point to the non -far future!”