Trump Opposed to ICE Raid on Hyundai Plant

On Monday, President Trump expressed that he is “strongly opposed” to the recent ICE raid conducted at a Hyundai facility in Georgia, where hundreds of workers were arrested and deported back to South Korea.

“You know how I feel, I was very much against it,” Trump stated to reporters while traveling on Air Force One to Japan.

The president pointed out that it’s unrealistic to expect a workforce to manufacture sophisticated products like complex chips and computers while simultaneously removing individuals who have been unemployed for years.

He emphasized the need for factories, like Hyundai’s new electric vehicle battery facility in Elabelle, Georgia, to hire specialized workers. According to him, these foreign workers should primarily focus on training American employees, although he acknowledged that it would take time.

On September 4, ICE rounded up 475 workers during what was described as the largest single-facility operation in the department’s history.

Footage released by authorities showed some workers restrained with chains, an action that has strained diplomatic relations between the United States and South Korea.

Jose Muñoz, CEO of Hyundai, indicated that the raid would delay the opening of the battery factory, which is one of the most significant economic development projects in Georgia’s history, by two to three months.

According to Charles Cook, a lawyer representing some of the affected Korean nationals, many deported were engineers and skilled professionals.

In light of the situation, President Trump mentioned that the White House is developing a “completely new” visa strategy aimed at foreign professional workers.

“They will educate our employees,” he said. “Our employees will be as good as they are within a certain timeframe, and it will be phased out. But we want them to bring in experts, and that’s the plan.”