SEOUL — South Korea says the U.S. has agreed to release the hundreds of Koreans caught in the largest-ever immigration raid last week.
South Korean presidential chief of staff, Kang Hoon-sik, said Sunday that negotiators were finalizing talks with U.S. officials to secure the release of the workers arrested in a federal immigration crackdown at a factory South Korean battery-maker LG Energy Solution and auto company Hyundai are building in Georgia.
The workers could return home on a chartered flight as early as this week, he said.
“The South Korean government will remain on guard and stay on the situation with responsibility until our citizens have safely returned home,” Kang said at a meeting with senior legislators and cabinet officials.
On Thursday, federal agents arrested 475 people at the factory site in Ellabell, Ga. More than 300 of those detained were South Korean citizens employed by LG and its subcontractors.
The crackdown came as South Korea’s biggest companies have pledged billions of dollars in new investment to boost their manufacturing operations in the U.S. as part of a trade deal reached by President Trump and his South Korean counterpart Lee Jae Myung earlier this year.
Trump announced in late July that tariffs on most imports from South Korea would be only 15% after South Korea agreed to invest $350 billion in key U.S. industries and purchase $100 billion worth of its liquified natural gas.
The fact that the raid targeted one of Korea’s most ambitious investments in the U.S at a time when the country is trying to rapidly ramp up its commitments prompted disbelief and indignation for some in Seoul.
In a press conference held on Sunday, ruling party lawmaker Oh Gi-hyoung stated that South Koreans should be treated with a level of respect commensurate with their country’s status as a major U.S. ally and investor.
The U.S. currently accounts for the greatest share of South Korea’s overseas investments, receiving $26 billion last year, according to South Korea’s finance ministry. South Korea is currently the U.S.’s 8th largest trading partner, with the two countries exchanging $242.5 billion in goods and services last year.
“If the U.S. genuinely wants to attract investment from South Korean companies, things like this cannot happen,” Oh said.
In a statement released Friday, the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of Georgia said the operation — which was the largest single-site raid in the Department of Homeland Security’s history — was part of a nationwide initiative to “repel the invasion of illegal immigration” known as Operation Take Back America.
ICE has said that those arrested were found to be working illegally, many on “short-term or recreational visas,” which do not allow visitors to work.
As of 2022, there were around 110,000 unauthorized South Korean immigrants living in the U.S., representing 1% of the total, according to data compiled by the Pew Research Center.
Even if there is a swift release of the workers, experts in South Korea said this heavy-handed action could impact how the Asian nation sees its trade relationship with the U.S.
Industry experts say that the crackdown could lead to logistical challenges for both ongoing and future efforts by South Korean companies in the U.S.
South Korea recently announced a $150 billion project to help revive a declining American shipbuilding industry. There are also close to 10 other battery plant projects currently underway across the U.S.
For years, companies here have dispatched their own technical specialists to oversee the construction of U.S. factories using nonwork travel permits such as ESTA (or the Electronic System for Travel Authorization), a visa waiver that allows tourists to stay in the country for up to 90 days.
Though technically the visas do not allow holders to work, “it was tolerated for a long time by U.S. authorities,” said Hwang In-song, an industrial policy expert at the Korea Electronics Technology Institute, a government think tank.
South Korean companies have long complained that the visas legally required for their dispatched workers are too time-consuming and challenging to obtain.
For example, the H-1B visa, which allows people to work, is awarded through a lottery held once a year. And getting one has gotten increasingly difficult under Trump, who has limited its eligibility under the banner of “Buy American, Hire American.”
“South Korean companies are reluctant to go that route because it takes at least 8 months of lead time before you can begin working on an H-1B, and there is no guarantee you will get it,” said Chun Jong-joon, a Korean American immigration lawyer based in Washington.
Hwang said it is nearly impossible to find enough Americans with the skills needed in order to staff South Korea’s U.S. factories, such as lithium-ion battery manufacturing or shipbuilding.
“As of now, there’s no way other than sending experienced South Korean specialists to help.”
After the release of the detained workers, South Korean officials said that they would pursue improvements to U.S. work permits for South Korean citizens.
Chile, Australia and Singapore have special work visa programs that allow their citizens to work in specialized roles in the U.S.
Until then, the arrests at the Georgia battery plant will likely mean months of costly delays, as the joint venture struggles to redeploy workers.
“In the case of LG Energy Solutions, they will have to think twice before sending their workers to the Georgia plant,” Hwang said.
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