US cuffs 475 at Hyundai–LG battery plant – feds tout largest single-site raid The Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arm of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it executed its largest single-site raid to date, detaining 475 people at the Hyundai–LG battery plant under construction in Georgia. Dubbed Operation Low Voltage, hundreds of federal agents entered the facility on Thursday, according …
The warrant listed 4 people being sought - all of Hispanic origin, assuming they actually exist. The logistics needed for detaining 4 specific people are very different to those for questioning everyone on site and detaining nearly 500 and presumably don't need months of preparation. Difficult to see the warrant as anything other than a pretext.
LG probably were 'encouraged' to build the battery plant in the US of A by Herr Trumps 'Tariff games'.
Of course, the lack of communication between depts of the Trump govt mean that ICE target the same LG because ... 'you use foreign workers and are a foreign company' ... total muppets.
All makes sense ... NOT !!!
:)
>All makes sense ... NOT !!!
Hyundai are the best selling EVs in N. America
The Republican party is owned by Tesla's CEO
Expect raids at ARM and AMD next - since they compete with #1 state semiconductor factory
"Protective coloration" may not help, either.
Reporter Robert Kahn was "detained" because he "took a photo of the [immigration] prison, from a parking lot outside the fence, for a news story."1
And, oh, this was in the 1980s during the Reagan Administration.
This has been going on for a long time.
As Adam Serwer put it, "The cruelty is the point."2
_________________
A police officer involved in the case turned out to be one the perps. Not so much lazy policing as a corrupt policeman getting in the way of the prosecution - aided and abetted by lazy right whingers jumping up and down on the sidelines making it a race issue. There are a hell of a lot of data-points that link right-whingers and child abuse. Folks could be forgiven for concluding that the right whingers and their supporters are trying to kick up a fuss to 'torpedo' the convictions of kiddie fiddlers.
8% of legal non-US citizens have been detained for 3 months and 3% for 8 months of inconvenience. A US citizen was detained for 10 days. Up to 70 US citizens have been deported (to the US?). The US is actively trying to deport people to countries that have travel advisories that warn of extreme danger from the US State Department. Wife, kids, other family in the US? Do you feel lucky today?
When Stephen Miller's life goal is to kill 'em all and let a Norse god sort 'em out, it's the patriotic responsibility of every American to expect that they may well become the next unavoidable collateral damage statistic after working for an org which suddenly stops being perfectly aligned with the president's agenda.
Anyone troubled by the unavoidable and irrevocable reality of this situation, possibly because they cannot live without certain medicines for more than a few days, or maybe because they're simply not a fan of mosquitoes, should already be making plans to self-deport.
What planet are you on ???
A day or two of inconvenience ???
Dear god in heaven, before you throw the idea out ... maybe you should try it first and let everyone know how good the 'holiday' was !!!
They are already considered to be 'unwanted scum of the earth' by the MAGA crowd, having a valid visa will not really change that view.
How kindly do you think they are going to be treated ... innocent or guilty does not come into this ... this is basic xenophobia with huge racial bias.
Maybe we should just 'string them all up' ... like the nice good ol'boys did to all those black people not too long ago !!!
:)
"Learn from history and stop repeating the same mistakes."
Unfortunately, many of the people who should take note of this fact, need to learn to read first !!!
Bear in mind that education in the US of A is not good as it should be for such a 'large country with all its resources'.
Also remember that Herr Trump wants to roll back the US of A to a time when things were 'better' ... according to his 'thoughts'.
This means that the US of A will not learn from history BUT will willingly go backwards in time because things were better ...
AKA the 'rich were richer' and the poor (cheap labour) had less protection or influence on govt.
All hail Herr Trump ... saviour of the universe !!!
[Cue inappropriate music & effects ('Borrowed' & not licensed, of course)]
:)
Sorry, I disagree.
I don't think Trump 'wants to go back to a time when things were "better"at all'
From where I am standing, Trump's activities once he won an election of which the result was weirdly not questioned at all, show that someone must have promised him untold riches if he ensured the US was destroyed, and -to give credit where it is due- so far he has done a bang-up job of it. There is nobody sane who trusts a US company, US politicians or the US legal system (sorry, I refuse to call it a 'justice' system). If you cannot trust the legal system there's no point in having contracts or negotiate with Trump either because there's no way you can enforce it if he decides to change his mind. And that's something he seems to do on an hourly, sometimes minute by minute basis, it's a total waste of time.
The irony is that his cronies haven't quite worked out what is going to happen to their own briefly enriched fortunes when the dollar takes the hit it is due for, something that Trump seems to be aggressively trying to force with his attacks on the Fed Bank, it appears he has a crash deadline to meet.
Better start learning Mandarin. You're going to need it.
"of which the result was weirdly not questioned at all"
Remember that as of 2020 questioning the result of an election makes you an election denier and a threat to 'our democracy'. The US political left totally shot themselves in the foot in 2020. The bar has now been set so high by the actions of the Democrat party that they simply cannot question results unless there is truly blatant evidence of cheating.
Also worth remembering that Trump has been happy with the results of the elections held under Democratic administrations (2016, 2024).
As for the 2020 election, Trump ran that one, so if it was rigged - it was his fault that it was rigged. No doubt the 2026 mid-terms and 2028 will be rigged as well under Trump's watch because it's clear that he doesn't value or tolerate democracy in any shape or form.
The reports from people held there are of terrible conditions. Overcrowding, insanitary, minimal to no food, no medical care and no access to lawyers etc. You actually "just disappear" -- its a variation on the old "Nacht und Nebel" ("Night and Fog") tactic used by the security services in occupied Europe during WW2 against terrorists and their sympathizers. It can take literally weeks to just find someone.
The thing is that the goons making the arrests don't actually have the legal powers to stop and arrest people. They derive their power from being armed and relying on sympathetic law enforcement** (hence the whole "Sanctuary Cities" canard -- police forces that don't actively provide cover for ICE operations are obviously hostile and their jurisdictions subject to sanction). Lack of information and the extensive use of private contractors actually provides cover for these operations because while they're on shaky legal ground you can't litigate through the courts until you know who you're suing and you've established standing. The whole idea is to make it difficult to unwind before it becomes normalized. Many people would find this a rather strange way to uphold the rule of law.
(**They also will arrest "with extreme prejudice" anyone who questions or even records their operations, charging them with serious Federal felonies. This is an intimidation tactic which has backfired somewhat due to the reluctance of Federal Grand Juries to indict or magistrates to entertain such pathetic allegations......but its still a crapshoot so an effective threat.)
Moving folk around to avoid legal oversight seems to be straight out of the Putin play book also ditto communist china and north Korea.....and yet capt tangerine professes to hate communists and leftists.....
Surprised the party armbands havent been issued yet in the US or the UK - reform likely will do a BUF sooner rather than later....I'm sure the heil will happily reprint HURRAH FOR THE BLACKSHIRTS
>Tell that to the people trying legitimately to leave the country,
A recent extreme example was someone was 'self-deporting' back to El Salvador when they got pulled at their gate at SFO while waiting to board their plane. They got held for three weeks and then deported. Quite apart from the waste of resources that person had, strictly speaking, left the country, they'd passed immigration and would have needed a valid visa to exit back to the US.
Its the problem with quota based enforcement. Anything to make those numbers up.....
"a day or two of inconvenience" gives a lot of credit to a government that culled the majority of their immigration judges and is going so far out of their way to get rid of the backlog extrajudicially that they'll load planes bound for Guatemala with unaccompanied children in the middle of a Sunday night on a bank holiday weekend.
Let me assure you that the UK's legendary standard for bureaucratic efficiency was the first thing that Captain John Smith left behind when he sailed the Atlantic to found the Jamestowne colony, and the 4.2 centuries that've passed since haven't seen any material improvement.
No, I think that getting pissed upon for a month or two by otherwise unemployable prison camp guards who may allow you to keep all of your teeth upon exiting the premises is, at this point, the very best case scenario for improperly detained subjects of the current American administration, with no hyperbole intended.
Looks like a targeted anti-EV attack on LG. I group it with stopping the windfarms and the car charging, rather than the usual immigration themed ICE theatre. A giveaway is: "this was not a random raid, but one that had been planned months in advance"
"Sean Duffy: "We will beat China back to the Age of Steam!""
You do realise that this does not mean what you think it means !!!???
There is an implied pause after 'China'.
It means the US of A will beat China (in a implied race) to get to the 'Age of Steam'.
This sounds about right with Herr Trumps policies & management by executive order !!!
The tariffs are legally suspect, the turning against your own universities and places of scientific research, the effective nullification of rules/regulation/protection as a creeping disease throughout the administration, the clear statement of NOT standing up to Putins aggression other than shipping some arms to Ukraine with minimal training or support ...... and finally the convenient myopia in relation to Israel & Gaza !!!!!!
Hail to Herr Trump, we are so grateful for the stability you have graced the world with ... please collect your Nobel Peace prize on the way out !!!
:)
@AC:
You do realise that this does not mean what you think it means !!!???
You ought to improve your English language skills.
The relevant sentence is ambiguous. While it can mean "(America) will return to the steam age before China does", it also can mean, "(America) will drub China so thoroughly that steam-age equipment will be the only sort of functional equipment in China."
Given the (non-)mentalities involved, the latter interpretation is most likely what was meant.
I'm hoping they will do that now. The problem is that both companies derive quite a lot of revenue from US sales, but if I were in management there I would use the raid as a means to tie up any progress, get some dumb white yahoos in for 'training' and spend the next few years to teach them to add up properly whilst not investing a cent more in setting up the factory (because you know it won't work anyway - the moment this starts turning a profit they'll apply the trick they used on Tiktok effect and demand a 'Murican gets to buy a large slice so they can take more of the winnings).
By the time these 'Muricans are anywhere near ready to be allowed near anything electronic or mechanical, Trump will have triggered a national emergency to stay in power as he knows he'll be heading for jail otherwise, and you won't have pumped money into something that you know not to make a return this side of the century.
It's a shame, the US did some good things too. Now it's going to Hell in a handcart, at quite a clip.
What is notable is none of the reports I have seen give any indication as to who actually was employing the workers. The implication is because the site was owned by Hyundai and Hyundai operated a car assembly plant on part of the site, that the construction workers were employed by Hyundai ie. there is no mention of a construction company employing sub-contractors. Yet the reporting doesn't fully support this conclusion, implying they were separate to Hyundai's existing operations and staff management.
So perhaps the reporting is throwing some FUD at Hyundai, a Korean business, not a true blue MAGA business...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj07jzgve45o
"A worker at the plant spoke to the BBC about the panic and confusion during the raid. The employee said the vast majority of the workers detained were mechanics installing production lines at the site, and were employed by a contractor."
Seems like they were using a local contractor who was employing 'locals'.
"a minority of those arrested had been sent from head office in Seoul"
Having been to the US on a number of occasions for work using the visa waiver you do have to be super careful. It has always been the case.
That's exactly right. And I believe there was a lot of back forth between the US and TSMC over how many Taiwanese workers should be there for construction and operation, which got sorted out in a civil manner. If they are going to bring their tech and methodology and copy it over here, they need to bring their trusted educated people with experience to do it. According to WSJ, a total of 500 were detained, 475 arrested, of which 300 were South Korean.
As for the US employees who handler the contracts with contractors who in turn hire subcontracts who .... finally illegal hired the non-working-visa holding workers - I doubt much will happen to them because the e-verify system is not fit for purpose, and there is no motivation to fix it specifically because it provides the employing side with margin of deniability that some of them want to take advantage of.
You would think that CA being a Democratic stronghold would be keen to place the onus on employers and not the desperate illegal employees, but no.
Reminder for California Employers: Immigration Status Protection (June, 2025)
...
- An employer who reverifies the employment eligibility of a current employee in a manner not required by federal immigration law may face a civil penalty of $10,000.
So an employer checking a fake looking document or doing a more thorough check is subject to enormous penalty. That unbearable doublespeak is to protect the employers who want to abuse the e-verify system, not the employees, and certainly not the would-be legally employable employees who would demand a higher wage.
Well done for comparing the death of 8 Million jews to the arrest of 400 illegal aliens.
I guess you're not Jewish huh.
Thats what it means ti be extreme left, total lack off respect for everyone. You are actually being far worse than the person you are trying to berate.
Its almost as if the whole ideology is based on practicing what you blame others for doing.
Kristallnacht was the start the process for the nazis and had NOT killed 8 million jews .... yet !!!
It is a common theme that ONLY the jews suffered in WWII and therefore no other person(s) can possibly suffer in a similar way.
NO-ONE is minimising the horror of the Holocaust BUT it has not gone away as an idea !!!!
Others are suffering in a similar way ... there is not a counter that says that if you don't hit the 8 million mark then it does not count or matter.
I would also be very careful in this dramatic type of response as Israel is not so innocent in terms of Gaza ... and I am sure that some of the people in Israel are jewish, or some I am lead to believe.
:)
This requirement realistically just give the IDF and others the excuse to continue killing more & more in Gaza.
The actions of Israel are nothing more than base 'Vengeance' and it does not matter that the victims are not ALL Hamas as, apparently, non-Jews don't matter.
There is no justification for killing the 'enemy' when the enemy is not defined as a sub-set of a group BUT actually ALL people in a group !!!
Does this not remind you of the actions against ALL Jews in WWII where ALL Jews were targetted by the Nazis & their supporters !!!
If you can NOT see any parallel then you have been consumed by hate to the point where 'YOU are the monster' and cannot see it !!!
For Clarity:
I am NOT Jewish or Arabic or in any way related to the main combatants in the so called 'War' BUT I am Human and can see Pure hate on both sides.
Israel is the much stronger side and needs to pull back from the edge of the abyss before it is too late.
Genocide is NOT the answer !!!
There has been enough hate !!!
:)
Anyone like to to try and argue what the difference between the ww2 French Resistance and Hamas is?
Both see themselves as fighting against an invading oppressive occupying power which abuses and oppresses their people, both kill both military and civilians of the occupying power, both resort to bombings and worse, both were classed as terrorists by the occupying power - so where is the difference? (Well apart from one was mostly white, christian and affiliated with the USA and the UK,the other are non white and mostly muslim)
"Last I checked, Hamas still did not return all the hostages. The US gov is still involved trying to get everyone out and nothing will improve until that is done."
Everywhere that the current US gov has interfered, they have only succeeded in making matters far worse. Probably better for all concerned if they butt out tbh.
>It is a common theme that ONLY the jews suffered in WWII and therefore no other person(s) can possibly suffer in a similar way.
In the USA any statement that "denies the uniquely Jewish experience of the holocaust" and to suggest that anyone else was a victim and may lead to prosecution for "holocaust denial"
The background to this is that the US mainland was essentially untouched during WW2. With the exception of a single person who was killed in Washington state (might have been Oregon) by a balloon bomb that had actually made it across the pacific unscathed.
WW2 was something 'far away' and didn't affect the day to day lives of the average American. The country also came out of the war in a very strong position compared to Europe and Japan.
It is interesting showing my in-laws around and pointing out damage from German bombs that has been left as a reminder.
The Romas, Slavs etc. that were also hunted down didn't have the same representation in the US.
Jews were actually one of the later targets for the concentration camps - communists, socialists, trade unionists as well as gay, lesbian and trans/gender non confirming people were rounded up prior to this and were also brutalized and killed in the camps, but that's glossed over in favour of a narrative that only jews suffered and only Jews were held in the camps.
It's a dishonest narrative, Jews suffered extremely badly but they were not the only ones who were subjected to it and neither were they the first to face it (the wannsee conference was in 1942 - where the 'final solution' was discussed and implemented - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wannsee_Conference ), trade unionists, communists and socialists as well as LGBTQ people were rounded up and detained in concentration camps for years prior to this.
Exactly the point I was referring to ... the Jews did suffer BUT they were not the only ones ... missing from your list is the Roma people.
In 1982, West Germany formally recognized that Nazi Germany had committed genocide against Sinti and Roma people.
So many 'peoples' were impacted by the genocidal tendencies of the Nazis.
The impact on one group does NOT imply an attempt to 'devalue' another groups loss/pain ... they ALL count and should NOT be forgotten !!!
:)
I note that you use the 'popular' ... "if you don't support my view you must be 'extreme left' or 'extreme right'" (depending on who you are attacking).
I am neither left or right and sure am not extreme !!!
I do believe that all people should be treated with respect.
Where do you fit on the political spectrum ???
You don't seem to very tolerant of anyone who disagrees with you !!!
Maybe you are just an 'Extreme idiot' ... no need for any politics at all !!!
:)
Where did the figure of 8 million come from is this apocoliptic inflation?
And yes, the mental attitude that classes a sub group of people as somehow sub human and therefore fair game to be persecuted is a valid comparison.
Reference also the attitude in some quarters with the current civilian inhabitants of Gaza.
Coward, learn your history. 8 million Jews were not murdered during Kristallnacht. Kristallnacht was smashing Jewish owned businesses. Comparing these events with Kristallnacht is quite appropriate. It is done to cause damage and to make people used to things.
Not sure if your comment was for me.
I do know my history and know exactly what Kristallnacht was and that is why I made my comment that this was the start of the Nazis ramping up the attacks on Jews.
I also mentioned that 8 million Jews were not dead at that time ... ( Note: I am NOT going to get into a debate about numbers as that is not the point being argued)
My other point was that others are suffering in a comparable way to the Jews in WWII ... NOW !!!
Additionally, it is difficult for the State of Israel to take any rhetorical 'high ground' when they are repeating the sins of their greatest abuser.
Hence I am agreeing with you NOT arguing against you. (I Upvoted you)
:)
> To the extent that many non Israeli Jews are calling this out.
And plenty of Israeli ones, too!
It's quite absurd that anyone criticising Israel's actions in Gaza immediately gets painted as being antisemitic.. If anything, what would be antisemitic would be to conflate Jewishness with support for the Israeli far-right.
The Holocaust certainly didn't 'start' with millions killed, but it definitely started with something much like what has been happening in the US recently. Instead of blaming a specific religious group, it's '(mostly brown) immigrants', but the parallels are real even for those who refuse to see them.
Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it
- see Gaza, see Ukraine, see the USA falling into fascism, see the moral panic over trans people in both the UK and the USA - no different to the 80s gay panic, nor any different to the panic over non whites and particularly black people "raping our white women" "stealing OUR jerbs", no different to the anti Jewish pogroms and mob fuelled violence based on false allegations and moral panics......
These are dark days and I am ASHAMED of the complete collapse of political moral courage and moral fibre, that opportunists like Streeting are revelling in pouring fuel on the fires of hatred, that the PM parrots and normalises fascist rhetoric with phrasing like "island of strangers" - likely written by his policy guru who is a protege of Maurice Glasman - who wanted to bring the BNP into labour......
Agree, in general.
The problem is that sliding to the 'Far Right' is easy when it gets you such massive support and an easy win in elections.
All politicians want to win, some do not care what it takes !!!
Europe is in the middle of various groups jumping on the bandwagon and going 'Far Right.
Various countries have or are dabbling with a quick slide to the right !!!
It has infected the UK and we are also getting very close to going that way !!!
When people feel that they are having a bad time they look for someone to blame ... the usual target is some 'Other' !!!
The 'Other' has been Black/Brown people for generations which has supposedly gone out of favour BUT now we have 'Black/Brown' who are also illegal immigrants so you have two shots at them !!!
Mosley popped up in the 1920-30s and the UK dodged a bullet by Hitler creating the conditions for War which caused Mosley to become unpopular as he campaigned for a negotiated peace with Germany.
Now we have Farage who is a wanna Trump who thinks that he can take advantage and gain power on the backs of the 'great unwashed masses' and their ignorance.
History is repeating, Europe is in danger from Putin and America is once again taking the stance 'Nothing to do with me !!!"
I would be very entertained if not for the fact I am in the crosshairs because I live in the UK and social breakdown or war will get me either way !!!
:)
"Europe is in the middle of various groups jumping on the bandwagon and going 'Far Right."
It's the direct result of everyone getting sick to death of Pride, Trans, Immigration, PC etc being pushed endlessly upon them by the minority loud mouthed left. The left have been the guilty ones fie trying tu push lies for the last 15 years or so and somehow are surprised that a pushback has started.
You don't need to be an Einstein to realize this.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" has never been to valid.
Here, let me fix that for you: "The Nazis won the election. They are the majority. You got to think about that. Just reflexively trying to shoot down everything the rest of Germany wants and always taking the losing position on every contentious issue is not useful."
For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not saying the MAGA-cult are the exact equivalent of the Nazis. Not yet. But there are definitely situations where the majority can be so morally bankrupt that no matter how flexible and pragmatic you are, you simply cannot side with them. The elastic should not stretch to mass murder. And in detaining people with valid visas, in deporting people on baseless grounds without due process, in troops on the street on nonsense pretexts and deployed to the most partisan targets, America seem to be passing beyond what any moral being should tolerate. This is authoritarianisms and you'll live to regret it when it's turned on you.
Nope. In general, you are considered to be working wherever your bum is. If you are a foreigner and your bum is inside the USA, then you need a US work visa of some sort to legally work there. This is universal for almost any country. A tourist visa does not provide permission to work, because you would be taking a job from a local citizen or permanent resident or someone else with a valid work visa. However specific agreements between some countries make this complicated. For example, Canadian engineers are allowed to work in the USA with a NAFTA visa and you are also allowed to do warranty support and attend business meetings.
I am so glad that you have proven that there are 'SOME' who see the situation in FULL !!!
I hope you are telling everyone you know ... because the US of A is in real danger and by consequence the rest of the world !!!
(Personally I think it is too late ... BUT I so want to be wrong and would welcome the 'pointing fingers & laughter' telling me so !!!)
:)
Nah the '24 election just proved Americans just hate any do-gooder who gets in the way of their committing fraud, bullying or their medical marijuana.
"so long as my edibles show up and I get a big truck who cares if my kids can read or can help themselves."
Some people are decent, as established by the handfuls of military officers protesting the murder in the Middle East, but by and large the cheap dope brigade rules.
But we WANT foreign investment, and there hasn't been a large uncontrollable fire in that area since the early 1860s.
If you are not an American citizen, and you aren't here on a work visa, then you aren't permitted to work here. If you aren't permitted to work here, both you and your supervisors and managers, all the way through the head of HR to the CEO and Board of Directors should be charged and arrested with you.
If you just hired 1000 people and only ran 200 of them through E-Verify, then you're probably doing it wrong.
Lets try that in the UK:
"Employers who knowingly hire individuals without the right to work in the UK can face severe penalties. These include civil penalties of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, with the fine amount determined on a case-by-case basis using a sliding scale."
Or the EU:
"For example, in Norway, working without a permit can lead to expulsion, a future entry ban, and registration in the Schengen Information System, with bans potentially lasting several years or being permanent.
In Switzerland, foreign nationals working without a permit face removal and imprisonment of up to one year, along with a five-year entry ban if they fail to leave after being ordered to do so.
Germany imposes fines of up to €5,000 for individuals working without a permit, and repeated or persistent violations can result in imprisonment of up to one year.
Similarly, in Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Netherlands, individuals found working without a permit are subject to expulsion and entry bans.
Employers who hire foreign nationals without proper authorization also face significant penalties. In Germany, employers can be fined up to €500,000, and repeated offenses may lead to imprisonment of up to three years, with harsher penalties if poor working conditions are imposed."
I'm sure most of you would be perfectly fine with a few hundred Indian IT folks deciding to fly into your city and start undercutting your employment opportunities.
Lot of IT folks over here snickered when it was framers, roofers, tradesmen getting the shaft by illegals.
Then Disney and others started train your replacements, and it suddenly wasn't funny any more.
I hope the rampant TDS keeps you warm at night and pays the bills as your own native folks looking for work or freshly graduated get to compete against folks willing to work for 1/2-2/3's of market wage.
1) I must assume that most, if not all of the Korean workers and maybe the others, were sponsored by Hyundai/LG. They probably had paperwork organised by the companies and when asked why they were coming in by immigration, would have indicated that they were ex-pat workers on contract for the plant's construction, rather than coming for an indeterminate vacation.
2) How many, if any of these people were listed on any warrants?
It would be more cost effective to send in a load of dark clarks to the employer's office and only take names and tax ID numbers from the people on site as they file out for the day. If the company is hiring people not authorized to work in the US for any reason, fine the crap out of them. If the employer's financial necks are on the line, they'll be more diligent about vetting the people being hired. A General Contractor may also add their own layer of supervision to make sure subs aren't bringing in people that shouldn't be there. I would expect that Hyundai would be unhappy to have their project delayed by contractor's slap-dash hiring practices.
"Ex-pats on a short term assignment won't be paying US tax and won't have a US tax ID."
There are work visas for people coming to the US to do specialist installations and commissioning for an equipment supplier, but anybody working on basic construction would need a tax ID number to legally work in the country. There's no way I could travel to the UK and work stringing wire in a new home, but I could get a visa to work fitting a special bit of kit on behalf of a US supplier/manufacturer. I could also get a visa to photograph the project, but not be allowed to work generally as a photographer for just anybody.
Once the facility is built and Hyundai is installing the manufacturing equipment, there won't be a problem getting visa for the specially trained engineers that would come in for that purpose, be paid in their home country and then will return to their home country once the work is done. That's often very short term measured in weeks at the most and they might not be subject to US income tax as the work would be part of the machinery being installed.
"I wonder how many of these people were really illegal workers?"
As it is being reported, a large percentage. People that have entered the country "informally". People that have overstayed their visa. People who entered on a visa not permitted to work, etc.
Most of these projects are big political events where the politicians crow about all of the job created even if it's a data center or a highly automated factory where there aren't many employees. For the construction crew to be such a high ratio of non-citizens, there isn't even the benefit of domestic jobs for the building of the facility. Chinese companies do this a lot too, but in their defense, some of the places they are building up to exploit don't have local contractors that are up to the job. The really horrible jobs will go to local workers.
This post has been deleted by its author
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/07/300-south-koreans-detained-at-hyundai-plant-in-us-to-be-released-says-seoul
47 of LG energy people have been freed. 250 of LG contractors have been freed. They are being flown home.
What is happening to the others is not clear.
How not to win friends and influence people.
I remember around Brexit time, an employment agency boss claiming on TV she could easily fill 40 open jobs with British employees.
She found three.
One didn’t turn up on the first day.
A second one didn’t return the second day.
So the company in question got 37 foreign and one British worker.
"47 of LG energy people have been freed. 250 of LG contractors have been freed. They are being flown home."
That makes sense since they may have been led to believe that visa/permissions were all taken care of by the company. If I were a roadie again and the tour manager said they had the correct visas for us to work in the different countries we would visit, I'd likely believe them since they'd be the one handling all of that for everybody. It's also not hard to do with performers and a small crew.
" but now the company will be more inclined to hire locally and/or people in the USA."
They may also abandon the project too and sell off the property while starting over in Mexico and being part of the free-trade lobby so they can still sell into the US without tariffs.
There's a give and take and a compliance route that would be much better than sending in a militaryesque force to arrest everybody. The best way to hurt a rich person is to make them a poor person. If the companies were knowingly hiring people not authorized to work in the US to save a few groats, fine them. Fine them a whole bunch while being able to list solid citations of well known laws and a tally of all of the people found on site with no right to work in the US. I expect the C-level execs are not bothered about the workers arrested as they got away with it as long as they did and won't have problems over it personally. It's just business.
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