475 Hyundai factory employees were arrested in the USA. “This is how we enforce the law”

At the Hyundai South Korean car battery factory, Federal Immigration Services stopped 475 employees on Friday. The National Security Department (DHS) described the action as the largest operation of law enforcement in one place in its history.

President Donald Trump, quoted by the Reuters agency, during a conversation with journalists in the oval office of the White House, called the detainees “illegal immigrants” and emphasized that the US authorities “performed their duties”.

Steven Schrank, a special agent responsible for DHS actions in Georgia and Alabama, announced that most detainees are South Korean citizens. As he explained, some of them crossed the border illegally, others did not have valid work permits or their visits expired.

– It was not an operation during which agents entered the factory, detained people and put them on buses, but rather the result of a months of investigation – he noted.

Hyundai, an international automotive concern based in Seoul, has two production plants in the USA – one in Georgia, the other in Montgomery in Alabama.

“The United States is proud that they are home to large investments and with impatience are waiting for the further development of these historical investments and partnerships, which President Trump provided,” said spokeswoman for the White House Abigail Jackson.

She added that every foreign employee imported to specific projects must enter the US legally and with appropriate work permits. President Trump will continue to make the promise of making the US the best place in the world to conduct business activity, while enforcing federal immigration regulations – emphasized Jackson.

DHS said that in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies, a search was conducted as part of an ongoing investigation into illegal employment practices and other serious violations of federal law.

Hyundai, in turn, pointed out that none of the detained persons was directly employed by the company.

– Hyundai undertakes to fully follow all the regulations and regulations in force on each market on which we operate. This also applies to the requirements of employment verification and immigration regulations. We expect the same commitment from all our partners, suppliers, contractors and subcontractors ” – quotes the company's Washington Post statement.

A spokesman for the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs also spoke after the raid. – The economic activity of our companies investing in the United States and the interests of our citizens cannot be unlawfully violated during law enforcement agencies in the US – said the spokesman.

The MSNBC station points out that in July South Korea undertook to spend $ 350 billion on investments in American projects. In return, Trump announced a reduction in duties for this country from 25 %, which previously threatened to 15 percent.

From New York Andrzej Dobrowolski (PAP)

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