ICE Raid Sparks Fear: Korean Workers Say ‘America Is Not a Safe Place to Work’

They arrived in the U.S. as highly skilled engineers, believing they were instrumental to President Trump’s vision of revitalizing American manufacturing.

These engineers boasted impressive résumés: Park Sun-kyu had constructed electric car battery plants across Indonesia, Michigan, and Ohio; Kim Min-su contributed to similar facilities in Poland, Ohio, and Tennessee; and Nate Cho, an HVAC expert, had helped build a nuclear power plant in the UAE and a Samsung semiconductor factory in Texas.

All South Korean nationals, they returned to the United States this year, joining hundreds of their countrymen at a vast 2,900-acre Hyundai complex in southeastern Georgia. Their mission: to complete a battery factory vital to electric car production, a project lauded by the state governor for creating thousands of local jobs.

On September 4th, as Mr. Park was training a colleague on a sophisticated manufacturing system, a U.S. agent, handgun drawn, burst into the office, commanding, “Everyone outside!”

Mr. Kim, overseeing operations in a specialized ‘dry room’ crucial for battery production, heard a sudden commotion. A security manager called, reporting an armed raid. Outside, agents moved quickly, sweeping across the entire facility.

In his office, Mr. Cho was reviewing his team’s financial records when he spotted helicopters and armored vehicles converging outside.

Soon, they were part of what U.S. officials termed the largest Homeland Security operation ever conducted at a single site. The workers endured a week of detention, reporting deplorable conditions and accusing U.S. authorities of human rights abuses, including being held in shackles.

This raid highlighted a stark conflict between Mr. Trump’s immigration and trade policies, causing deep consternation in South Korea, a crucial U.S. ally. Korean diplomats engaged in intense negotiations with Washington for a week, ultimately securing the workers’ repatriation.

Upon their return to South Korea, six of the interviewed workers expressed their ongoing struggle to comprehend the events. Mr. Park, for instance, reported seeking medical help for sleep difficulties.

“My primary conclusion is that America is not a safe environment for work,” Mr. Park stated, adding, “I do not intend to return there for employment.”

America’s Conflicting Signals

The raid was particularly shocking in South Korea, given its long-standing and deep military alliance with the United States.

The repatriated workers believed their unfortunate situation stemmed from a fundamental disconnect between America’s stated desires and its enforcement actions.

For decades, South Korean corporations like Hyundai have established and run factories in the U.S. Recently, Washington leveraged the threat of increased tariffs on Korean exports to compel South Korea into committing hundreds of billions of dollars towards new factory construction.

However, industry experts argue that the U.S. lacks sufficient skilled labor to build these factories at cost-effective wages. Compounding this, Washington has not issued enough work visas for foreign specialists. To further complicate matters, Mr. Trump recently introduced hefty fees for new H-1B visa applications.

To bridge this gap, many South Korean firms, including those contracted by Hyundai and LG for the battery factory, employ a rotational system, bringing workers into construction sites on short-term business or tourist visas, a practice that often operates in a legal gray area.

While U.S. and South Korean officials haven’t detailed the visa statuses of all 317 Koreans arrested on September 4th, five of the six engineers interviewed by The Times were on six-month B-1 visas, permitting business consultations. The sixth used the 90-day Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) for business or tourism. All maintained they were on business trips, funded by their South Korean employers.

“We were aware we were operating in a legal gray area,” Mr. Park confessed, explaining he meticulously avoided manual labor to comply with his B-1 visa. “Our intention was to complete our work in a few months, return home, and then come back to the U.S. after a similar break.”

The Dramatic Raid Unfolds

That Thursday, over 400 U.S. agents swarmed the Ellabell complex.

Agents initially separated U.S. citizens. Non-citizens, including those on ESTA, B-1, and B-2 tourist visas, were then instructed to complete forms in English and Spanish, without Korean translators. English-speaking workers stepped forward to assist with translation, answering questions about personal details and their legal entry status.

Notably, at least one individual was reportedly compelled to leave the U.S. despite holding legal status, as earlier investigations by The Times revealed.

Initially, Mr. Kim, 34, felt no apprehension, even as he and his colleagues were told to bag their belongings. An agent even reassured him, saying, “I will let you go home.”

However, the atmosphere quickly soured as individuals holding ESTA, B-1, and B-2 visas were presented with arrest warrants, handcuffed, chained, and transported by bus to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Folkston, Ga.

The Korean workers remain bewildered, questioning why their visas led to arrests and why they were never informed of the specific laws they allegedly broke.

They pondered why they, contributors to local employment, were now being detained.

“We had no intention of becoming permanent residents or workers,” Mr. Cho, 55, emphasized.

Mr. Kim explained that for subcontractors like him, the objective was rapid completion and departure. “Missing the target date means additional costs, as you aren’t compensated for extra work months,” he clarified.

Allegations of Mistreatment

Inside the detention center, workers described being housed in five ‘pods,’ each accommodating up to 80 individuals. Meals consisted of an apple with ham-and-cheese sandwiches, or meat gruel with rice or baked beans, and water from communal fountains or containers. The restroom facilities, including showers, urinals, and toilets, offered minimal privacy, separated from the main area by only low walls and curtains.

Since returning home, several dozen workers have formed a chat group to discuss their alleged human rights violations. They claim authorities never informed them of their rights or the reasons for their arrest. With confiscated phones, contacting family, employers, or lawyers was impossible; even detention center phones restricted international calls.

Their reports detail unpleasant drinking water, moldy mattresses, dusty blankets, excessively cold air conditioning, and a slow response from officials to medical requests.

One poignant message in the chat accused guards of racist gestures, pulling their eyes sideways. The worker wrote, “The racial discrimination and sneering — and how the United States viewed us — will linger long in my heart.”

South Korea’s foreign ministry has announced an investigation into these human rights abuse allegations. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul declined to comment.

During individual interviews, U.S. officials at the detention center offered workers a stark choice: agree to voluntary departure, acknowledging a violation of admission terms, or remain to contest their cases in court.

Mr. Kim recounted an American officer’s warning that legal battles could span months, a sentiment echoed by the South Korean government. Consequently, all but one of the Korean detainees opted for voluntary departure.

A final point of contention arose before their departure: U.S. officials insisted on handcuffing the workers for the four-hour bus journey to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. South Korean officials opposed this, but many workers, desperate to leave the detention center, conveyed to their diplomats that they would accept handcuffs if it meant a swifter return home.

Ultimately, the South Korean government’s stance prevailed, and the workers were not handcuffed. Washington also reportedly assured that the workers would not face prejudice if they sought re-entry into the U.S. once the visa issue was resolved.

However, not all wish to return.

Mr. Cho, for one, stated he would have gone directly back to the factory from detention if permitted.

“Completing the work I started outweighs my personal pride,” he declared.

Originally slated for completion by year-end and expected to generate 400 new jobs, the battery factory’s opening is now delayed by at least several months.

Additional reporting by Ashley Ahn and Jin Yu Young.