Korean Engineers Plan Lawsuit After ICE Raid

Almost 200 South Korean engineers detained in a Georgia EV battery plant raid plan to sue U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying their arrests were unlawful and fueled by racial discrimination and human rights abuses. Engineers with valid visas claim they still don’t know why they were detained.

ABC News says federal officials described the Thursday, Sept. 4 raid at the Hyundai-LG Energy Solution plant as the “largest, single-site enforcement operation” they’ve ever carried out. The sweep detained more than 500 workers, including 317 engineers from South Korea who were assisting in the launch of the vast, multibillion-dollar project.

One of the impacted engineers described seeing “fully armed officers, drones and helicopters overhead, rifles in hand,” before workers were categorized by visa and handed arrest warrants. Some of them could not understand the arrest documents or why they were being restrained.

Detainees were chained and taken to an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, where, reportedly, 60 to 80 people were placed in each pod. Stories shared with The Korea Times portray the detention center as an unhygienic and racist environment, noting moldy mattresses, unclean water and bathrooms without privacy. 

A traumatized engineer, referred to as Kim, told ABC News, “We were treated like dangerous fugitives, not engineers.” 

By Thursday, Sept. 11, negotiations between U.S. and South Korean governments resulted in the release of engineers detained in the raid. No one faced charges.

ICE maintains that the raid was aimed at undocumented labor. Yet many of the South Korean engineers held B-1 business visas, B-2 tourist visas or entered lawfully under the 90-day Electronic System for Travel Authorization waiver program. 

South Korean National Assembly member Kim Joon Hyung told ABC News he couldn’t understand how “workers with the right visa” ended up being treated “like a terrorist.” James Kim, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, noted that thousands of workers returned home. In the days following the raid, he observed a decline in business travel.

“I don’t think I’ll ever go to the U.S. again,” said Kim.

After engineers returned to South Korea, diplomatic efforts to repair relations began. Gov. Brian Kemp has made a trip to South Korea and President Donald Trump received a golden crown and a top state medal during a separate diplomatic visit. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it is in ongoing talks about creating a special visa category for Korean industrial experts.