A protest banner depicting U.S. President Donald Trump at Incheon Worldwide Airport in South Korea, on September 12, 2025, after the landing of a airplane holding a whole lot of South Korean staff who had been detained as a part of a U.S. immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG plant in Georgia.
Anthony Wallace | Afp | Getty Photographs
The White Home on Monday moved to restrict the fallout of an immigration raid at a South Korean-owned battery plant in Georgia on Sept.4 — a transfer that angered the U.S. ally and sparked considerations relating to international funding within the U.S.
The Georgia facility, operated by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Power Answer, noticed 475 of its staff arrested on allegations that they had been within the U.S. illegally, or with out the right work permits, with a whole lot of detained South Koreans despatched residence Thursday.
The raid was a part of a broader deportation drive by the Trump administration, which the White Home has described as central to fulfilling U.S. President Donald Trump’s election marketing campaign guarantees. Stephen Miller, the White Home’s deputy chief of employees and homeland safety adviser, has pushed for 3,000 arrests a day.
Amid backlash and considerations over how the raid might disrupt efforts to carry manufacturing again to the U.S. — a transfer known as reshoring or onshoring — Trump, in a submit on Reality Social Monday, careworn that international staff are “welcome” within the nation.
Trump mentioned that he needs international firms constructing complicated merchandise, machines, and numerous different “issues” to carry expert workers to coach the home workforce, although he emphasised that these international staff are anticipated to return residence ultimately.
“If we did not do that, all of that huge Funding won’t ever come within the first place… I do not wish to frighten off or disincentivize Funding into America by outdoors International locations or Corporations,” Trump mentioned.
In the meantime, Christopher Landau, a prime U.S. diplomat, expressed remorse over the immigration raid in a gathering with South Korean counterparts over the weekend, suggesting that the occasion may very well be used as a turning level to strengthen bilateral relations, in response to the Korean Overseas Ministry.
Landau additionally mentioned that South Korean staff will face no disadvantages in reentering the U.S. and that Washington would attempt to forestall related incidents.
Additional fallout?
In addition to Washington’s reconciliatory statements, Landau additionally mentioned in a submit on X that the U.S. State Division “will be sure that [the South Koreans] have the mandatory and correct visas to adjust to our legal guidelines.”
South Korean state media reported that Washington has agreed to ascertain a brand new “visa working group” for the nation, with discussions mentioned to incorporate Seoul’s need for a separate U.S. visa quota for its staff.
Presently, the U.S. permits employers to quickly rent international staff in “specialty occupations” underneath its H-1B visa program, however the system is extremely selective because of an annual cap and a lottery system.
A South Korean presidential spokesperson additionally advised native media on Monday that Seoul is conducting a extra thorough evaluate to find out whether or not any human rights violations had occurred throughout U.S. immigration enforcement on the Georgia battery plant.
U.S. authorities officers mentioned that a whole lot of the employees detained on the facility had been staying within the nation illegally.
Specialists have advised CNBC that the immigration actions — the only largest enforcement operation within the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety’s historical past — might result in different international companies reassessing their workforces within the U.S.
LG Power Answer advised CNBC final week that the graduation of the Georgia EV battery plant had been postponed from 2025 to 2026. Nonetheless, the corporate claimed that the choice was not associated to the latest incident however somewhat to exterior components, together with general market situations.
Many different South Korean tech giants have been investing billions into amenities within the U.S. as a part of reshoring efforts, together with semiconductor firms Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has known as the raid “bewildering,” including that it could discourage future funding into the U.S.