ATLANTA — Buses transporting over 300 South Korean workers, who were detained during an immigration raid at a battery factory under construction in Georgia, began their journey from a detention center to Atlanta on Thursday. A charter flight is set to take them back to South Korea, concluding a troubling episode for those involved.
Last week, approximately 475 workers were detained, with 330 identified as South Korean. The raid occurred at the battery factory being built on the expansive campus of Hyundai's auto plant located west of Savannah. Reports indicate that a Korean Air Boeing 747 was readied in Atlanta for the group’s departure, scheduled for noon Thursday.
In addition to the South Korean workers, the group includes 10 Chinese nationals, three Japanese nationals, and one Indonesian. The legal and diplomatic negotiations between the U.S. and South Korean officials focused on achieving voluntary departures for the detained workers, avoiding the complications that come with deportations.
South Korea's Foreign Minister, Cho Hyun, raised concerns during discussions in Washington, expressing that the public release of arrest footage caused significant emotional distress among the workers and their families. South Korea's President, Lee Jae Myung, emphasized the need for improvements to the U.S. visa system to assure Korean companies wishing to invest in the U.S. do not face similar immigration challenges in the future.
Cho's meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio aimed at ensuring the swift and respectful exit of the detained workers, urging that they be permitted to leave without handcuffs or other indignities that could affect their future re-entry into the U.S.
As the situation continues to unfold, both nations remain engaged in high-level dialogues to address these immigration issues and to safeguard the rights of foreign workers operating in the U.S.
