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ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
WorldUnited States & Canada

Trump concerned South Korean arrests could ‘frighten’ investors

US president said foreign workers sent to the US are ‘welcome’ days after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at a work site in Georgia

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A screenshot from a video shows US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents executing an operation at a Hyundai-LG factory in Ellabell, Georgia, on September 4. Photo: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement / AFP
Agence France-Presse

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that foreign workers sent to the United States were “welcome” and he did not want to “frighten off” investors, 10 days after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at a work site in Georgia.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, the 79-year-old Republican wrote: “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize investment.”

Some 475 people, mostly South Korean nationals, were arrested at the construction site of an electric vehicle battery factory, operated by Hyundai-LG, in the southeastern US state of Georgia on September 4.

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Widespread anti-immigrant operations spark fear in Asian communities across the US

Widespread anti-immigrant operations spark fear in Asian communities across the US

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials alleged South Koreans had overstayed their visas or held permits that did not allow them to perform manual labour.

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The Georgia raid was the largest single-site operation conducted since Trump launched a sweeping immigration crackdown across the country.
Though the United States decided against deportation, images of the workers being chained and handcuffed during the raid caused widespread alarm in South Korea.
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Seoul repatriated the workers on Friday.

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