Posted on 10/27/2025 8:04:47 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
President Donald Trump said Monday he was “very much opposed” to the immigration raid at a Hyundai electric vehicle plant in Georgia last month after an operation that saw hundreds of South Korean workers detained and sent home.
Nearly 500 employees were arrested during the Sept. 4 raid at Hyundai Motor Group’s facility in Ellabell, Georgia. Workers were sat on the factory floor as officers shackled their legs in scenes that caused outrage in South Korea, where the government scrambled to secure the workers’ release. They were eventually flown home on a chartered flight after urgent negotiations.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Japan, the first stop on his Asia trip, Trump said he didn’t agree with how the situation at the plant was handled.
“You know how I feel, I was very much opposed,” the president said.
He continued:
"Look, when they come in and they’re making very complex machinery, equipment, they’re going to have to bring some people in, at least at the initial phase. In that case, it was batteries. Batteries are very complex and they’re actually very dangerous to make. You can’t just pick people off an unemployment line and say, 'We just, you know, opened up a $2 billion battery factory.' So, we’ve got an understanding, and this is with the world, by the way. This is not just – this is when they come into our country, we have a lot of factories being built by outside by foreign interests."
Trump argued that foreign investors should be allowed to “bring in experts” to help establish U.S. operations:
"When they come in, some of these factories make very, very complex, very highly sophisticated equipment. They’ve got to bring people in with them for a period of time. They’ll teach our people how to do it, but even for a fairly long period of time, they’re going to need expertise to be successful. And we’re going to let people know. I’m letting them know right now that when they come into our country, we can expect to see them bring in with them some very talented people that have been doing it for many years. They’ll teach our people how to do it. Our people will be just as good as they are within a period of time and it’ll be a phase out, but we want them to bring in experts and that’s the way it is."
After a reporter followed up that his administration was doing a “whole new” visa plan, Trump said:
"I was opposed to getting them out and in fact before they got out they were pretty well set but before they got out I said they could say they went they left and they’re going to be coming back."
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung warned after the raid that confusion over visa rules may chill investment.
“Whether they should go at all,” Lee said, was now a question some firms were asking.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hyundai_Motor_Company_manufacturing_facilities
Hyundai has plants outside of Korea, including one in Alabama, and should know the visa rules.
And if they screwed up, THIS was the best way of handling it?
We sure showed them!
What you fail to mention is all they needed was legal paperwork
to do work in the U.S. that’s all.
Some people on this tread can’t seem to differentiate between a multinational corporation investing billions in this country and a bunch of Guatemalan fentanyl dealers.
Well...maybe that's a problem then.
So you’re A-OK with two-tiered immigration enforcement then?
Ellabell, Georgia is about 30 miles west of Savannah.
"The deported workers were not Hyundai employees but worked for its contractors and LG Energy Solutions, it’s South Korean partner in the plant. Muñoz said while the workers should not have been here without the proper work visas, there needed to be a change in US law to allow for the kind of work. Muñoz also said last month he expected a deal soon between the countries."
They were NOT here legally.
PERIOD.
It’s a pretty standard evasion for corps to fob off the dirty work of employing illegals to subcontractors. They knew what they were doing to save money and got caught.
OK...so assuming that there are no problems at the Alabama plant that *very* strongly suggests that one of more persons...perhaps Korean,perhaps American...have made one or more honest mistakes.As I said earlier...I’m with DLT on this one.
Yep, using cut-outs to avoid U.S. immigration laws and regulations.
“Korean techs were sent to Georgia to build out the plant”
There’s a visa process for that.
They didn’t follow it.
If legally, then Trump is right.
If illegally (as it appears), then Trump is dead wrong. We can’t have a two-tiered system here. If you’re an illegal, you’ve got to go.
Plus, it’s demoralizing to the ICE agents who are just trying to do their jobs.
How did they get into our country without visas? Were their visas not for an extended period?
Sounds like a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t. If ICE didn’t go after illegals because of who they were then a Lib gets a hold of that information and cries racism and all that, so ICE does their job seemingly impart and people still whine. I say ICE, deport them all let the courts sort it out.
In a way I guess you can say I am. But then it could also be said that DJT is as well. I don’t agree with DJT 100% of the time but I fully agree with him on this matter.
“We sure showed them!”
Ask Google execs about the multi-billion dollar EU fine.
Oops...should be “I’m with DJT on this one”.
Trump is wrong here. He alwyas had a soft spot for this type of employement scheme and has employed H2-B personally. We must enforce our immigration laws. However, due to the politically sensitive nature of this it could and should have been delt with administratively with letters of removal before work place enforcement was conducted.
How many Americans does it take to transfer an American company’s secrets to its PRC ‘partner’?
Far less than 400!
Probably less than 10!
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