Immigration Raid on Hyundai-LG Plant Shows Trump's Priorities

Evident that the operation was a carefully calibrated action designed for maximum political impact: Expert

- Wendy Teo

SEOUL - LG Road, Kia Drive, Kona Drive, Palisade Drive and Genesis Drive.

These are the names of streets that encircle the 1,198ha site that houses Hyundai's first fully electrified vehicle and battery manufacturing plant in the US in a rural part of the state of Georgia, named for vehicle models in the motoring giant's stable.

It is a nod to the spread of top investor South Korea's business reach in the south-eastern state, home to more than 100 South Korean companies.

But on Sept 4, the plant earned the ignominy of being the site of what US officials say is the largest immigration sweep in the history of the US Department of Homeland Security's operations.

Amid a broader crackdown on illegal immigration, 475 people were rounded up at the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) - including 300 South Koreans whom US President Donald Trump has described as "illegal aliens".

"It's important for Korean and other foreign investors to recognise that as important as manufacturing investments are to the Trump administration, immigration enforcement is a higher priority," Mr Troy Stangarone, a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology, told The Straits Times.

Most of the arrested South Korean workers, who are employed by subcontractors, were said to have been in the US on the Electronic System for Travel Authorisation visa waiver programme, intended for short-term trips of up to 90 days for the purposes of business meetings and contract signing only.

Some of them had overstayed, while most were considered to be working illegally in violation of the terms of their visas, said US Customs officials.

To be legally employed at a work site in the US, a foreigner needs a work visa, such as the H-1B visa, which is meant for foreigners in specialised occupations.