Trump backpedals as Hyundai factory ICE raid enrages South Korea On Sunday, President Trump took to his personal social media channel to calm a growing diplomatic storm with one of America's closest allies, South Korea. "When Foreign Companies who are building extremely complex products, machines, and various other 'things,' come into the United States with massive Investments, I want them …
“ICE made 475 arrests during the raid, including more than 300 South Korean nationals – many of whom claimed they held valid visas that allowed them to work in the USA.”
It’s one thing to claim you held a valid visa, how about showing the actual visa?
Sometimes if immigration police come and demand you produce your valid work visa, who knows, they just might go away and leave you alone if you produce your legally-required work visa.
Like, let’s suppose your an American and “some guy” invites you to come work in South Korea. Do you really think they’d just let you do that without, at some point or other, producing a valid work visa?
From the way I heard it, there’s almost nowhere on earth you’re allowed to go visit and start working and all that, based solely on some vague claim like, “well I used to have a valid work visa.” At some point some immigration cop is liable to ask you to produce an actual, real, non-imaginary work visa. Not only ask for it, but insist you produce it immediately if not sooner! (Like how the whole entire world works or whatever.)
Let's be clear here - ICE doesn't give a damn about whether you have a valid visa or not. If you look foreign, off you go. And even if you don't *look* foreign, if you *sound* foreign, they deport you too. They've deported people who had valid visas, they've deported people who were in the US on asylum (with genuine claims), and you know all about the most famous of all, the Salvadorian who was deported to El Salvador *despite* a court order telling the US government not to. The government had to row back on that eventually and fetch him back, only to slap him with spurious claims of gang violence, human trafficking and some other claims, all of which are being questioned by the judicial system.
And, the one person who kicked off this charade by claiming there were illegal immigrants working at the Hyundai and LG plants has shown zero interest in remotely apologising for what was a complete self-goal. Yes, she is a Trumpeteer. Yes, she is full MAGA. And boy will she be the celebrity of town when Hyundai and LG go "you know what, nah, we'll cancel any further investment" and all her fellow MAGA friends working in those two factories lose their jobs. She's already being celebrated (no, I'm kidding, she's getting heat from those who rely on those jobs).
So... you might want to check your sources first (and check what ulterior motives they might have) before you shoot your mouth off. Hyundai and LG play it by the book when it comes to the US, they don't do stupid things.
Nope, he screwed over farmers in his first admin, costing American taxpayers 28 billion dollars to keep them from going bankrupt due mainly to the loss of the soybean market to China because of tariffs. The current regime is just a replay of the first with the bonus of removing large numbers of farm workers as they worked in the fields. And they still for the most part support him. I read about one complaining that they were called deplorables and dumb and praising him for using taxpayer money for the bail out that he caused. What can you say to somebody like that? I would like to add that farmers, at least the ones that did not get subsidies are also taxpayers. Short of a agricultural disaster (coming soon to a farm near you?) he's still their guy.
The difference is that this time there seems to be no sign he is going to bail out the farmers, and with it being harvest time and no sign of any trade deal with China - who stopped ALL purchases of US soybeans after the orange pedo's tariff tiff earlier this year - some farmers are wondering whether they should harvest beans they can't sell or cut their losses by plowing them under. Seriously, I live in a farm state and that's the discussion farmers are having right now.
Why would he screw over farmers and even drive some of them into bankruptcy when they heavily voted for him? Google JD Vance and Acretrader and you'll find out! And remember when during the campaign when he said "I don't care about you, I just want your vote" and also when he said "you just have to vote this one time then you'll never have to vote again". He warned people in advance he was going to screw them over so I have ZERO sympathy for any Trump voter who loses their farm or their business because of his idiotic policies. Some people need to touch the hot stove for so long it requires amputation before they learn, I guess.
"They'd only be copying the Dems if they did [vote for a dead candidate]."
Which proved to be a brilliant move:
The Town That Accidentally Elected a Dead Man — and What Happened Next
"Missouri’s lieutenant governor, Roger Wilson, publicly stated that if Carnahan won, he would appoint Mel’s widow, Jean Carnahan, to the Senate seat.
That pledge gave voters a clear outcome they could support. And they did.
Jean Carnahan was sworn into office in January 2001, becoming the first woman to represent Missouri in the U.S. Senate. She served for nearly two years before narrowly losing a special election in 2002. As for John Ashcroft, losing to a deceased opponent didn’t end his political career — he was later appointed U.S. Attorney General under President George W. Bush."
""They'd only be copying the Dems if they did [vote for a dead candidate].""
John Fetterman (D) from Pennsylvania was elected to be a Senator after suffering a serious stroke in 2022. That boy jus' ain't right. He also has other heart issues and has battled depression for some time. Besides mental and physical issues, he shows up to work in shorts and a hoodie. I'm not so sure the US Federal government is a good place for people that have so many issues.
@Claude Yeller
"Biden was not dead. Even today, he is still alive."
Instead of admitting his mental state they let him try to run for President again!!! And then when he suddenly has cancer.
"In his four years in office, Biden did not make as bad a mess of the office as The Orange King did this spring alone."
I can only guess you slept through the 4 years prior then. Or have some warped and twisted idea of a bad mess vs 4 years of Biden.
"I am convinced core Republican voters would vote for a corpse if the party nominated it."
Welllll, the GOP wasn't really behind Mr Trump but had him forced down their throats to where they had no choice. He doesn't fit properly into the machine to be controlled by the apparatus behind the scenes.
The Democrats were running an infirm octogenarian in diapers up to the point where they had no choice but to have him bow out (if he knew that's what they did). Their only other choice was a cackling fool that screwed her way to the upper echelons of politics and it made more sense to throw her on the pyre than to substitute somebody better who would have no time to run a campaign so people knew who they were. Better to reserve them for a later date.
It's a game of craps with one die that has ones and twos on the faces. I expect that it isn't 3 of each most of the time.
"The current regime is just a replay of the first with the bonus of removing large numbers of farm workers as they worked in the fields."
In his mind it probably all fits together. The farmers won't have to pay those workers to harvest soy beans they won't be able to sell.
I wonder if the Trump organisation is planning to buy up abandoned farms. They'd make good golf courses once the dust stops blowing over them.
Canada has a very sensible approach - all temporary farm workers are required to have visas, and therefore the government issues those visas. The employers must pay for their transportation to Canada, there are mandated minimum wages, and employers must pay for their health insurance. The US is barbaric compared to that - farm workers swim the Rio Grande, etc.
"The US is barbaric compared to that - farm workers swim the Rio Grande, etc."
If the workers had a proper visa, they could cross the border at official crossings and make their way to work, no itch. Enforcement on employers for making sure everybody they hire has a visa and gets paid at least minimum wage no matter how it's calculated (straight hourly, buy unit volume/weight harvested) and they carry workman's compensation insurance would keep the employers honest or somebody else would own the farm next season. As long as the US allows egregious lawsuits to be filed against doctors and hospitals, the US can't have any form of universal health insurance. Politicians know this (most are blood sucking lawyers) so they tried to appease the masses by offering up universal health "insurance". It's not working as it's still possible to sue for "undue and unjust pain during childbirth" and win millions from a jury .
In his mind it probably all fits together. The farmers won't have to pay those workers to harvest soy beans they won't be able to sell.
I realize Trump is a simpleton, but doubtful foreign labor is used to harvest soy beans. It's a skilled job using complex machinery. The same for corn and most other row crops. Migrant labor is used for crops that need to be hand picked. Fragile or leafy vegetables and fruits.
In the future, factory farms will increase mechanization. Fragile vegetables will start to disappear from grocery stores and be relegated to farmers markets. Or tasteless hybrids that are more suitable for machine harvesting will be created. Prices will go up and small farms will disappear. That is all fine for the elite that Trump is concerned about.
The thing that puzzles me is how anyone could think a man that has never worked a day in his life is a candidate 'for the working class'. Doubtful the man has ever had a callous, unless it was on his ass.
Farmers are being fucked over both ways. Input costs are skyrocketing as imported fertiliser and tractor parts are tariffed.
China's retaliatory tariffs means they stopped buying US produce like soybeans, rice, sorghum and beef.
Absolute boon for farmers in places like Brazil, India, Vietnam and Australia who are happily taking all the sales that used to go to US farmers.
Add in scrapping USAID which used to buy a lot of US produce and US farmers have one less major customer.
Was trumps plan always to screw US farmers while making foreign agriculture great again?
"Was trumps plan always to screw US farmers while making foreign agriculture great again?"
That would require connecting two or three things together in cause and effect terms and I don't think that's one of his talents. It's just as likely that he didn't intend to do so and impossible to work out which it was.
And the dumbfuck apologists will say "they should have showed their proof of citizenship" as if a country where you need to carry citizenship documentation wherever you go is not a "shithole country". And as if ICE will believe the documents - they've been on record multiple times refusing Real ID licenses claiming they "looked fake". So there isn't anything you could carry with you to prove you're a citizen to the drooling 75 IQ dropouts ICE is hiring.
I assume that you or anybody you know does not fit into any of the categories that leave you at risk. I do not enjoy the suffering of others especially ones that don't deserve it unlike most(?) MAGAs who seem to thrive on "owning" other people (does that explain the overt racism that many of them, all the way to the orange tippy top openly display?). Must be a residual part of my long ago mostly, but not completely abandoned Lutheran upbringing. And I'm very glad I haven't lost that part.
I saw a report where a white male US citizen (3 or 4 generations) in a Texas city decided to put a small Mexican flag sticker on the back of their car just to wind up ICE and promptly got stopped by ICE 3 times in 5 days. He told them the flag was on the car when he bought it.
I expect very lucky the person was very white looking. If brown, I expect he would have been deported 3 times. Crazy times. I recall working with an engineer years ago that was Indian and very brown. He drove an older 7 series bmw. He would get stopped occasionally for the "tail light" and then be asked to open the trunk. This was in Austin. He'd do it, he did want to get shot accidentally. But still, I've never been stopped for a tail light. Maybe it is the bmw though not the brown skin.
"I recall working with an engineer years ago that was Indian and very brown. He drove an older 7 series bmw. He would get stopped occasionally for the "tail light" and then be asked to open the trunk."
Brown, what might be a more expensive car and in the wrong neighborhood. It fits the wrong sort of profile to be left alone. Stereotypes are good first order approximations, but not perfect. Lots of drug dealers can't read/write nor do maths, but they'll take their profits and buy flash cars, expensive trainers, gold chains and load themselves up with the sort of look that screams "drug dealer". A high percentage of the time a police officer seeing that can stop them on some pretense, find a weapon, drugs and that the person has a warrant.
Used BMW, Mercedes and other luxury-priced vehicles can be complete shit. Once out of warranty, parts and service for all of the things that start breaking gets stupid. If you also live in a neighborhood that sees more used Fords, Toyotas and Hondas, it sticks out. Until I can get the garage cleared out so I can park in it, I'm better off with the car I have that sits outside. It doesn't attract attention to itself nor to the house.
"Up to 70 US citizens, with the misfortune of being of Latino or other non-white origin have been detained by ICE."
Could they show any valid form of government issued ID? Did they give a name and other information that could be verified if they didn't have ID with them? Did they get caught lying about who they are?
Being in the wrong place can mean being swept up with everybody else since the police might just be taking everybody and sorting them out later rather than trying to make determinations on-site. If you were stone sober and hanging out at a crack house when the police raided the place, you'd go in handcuffs too. If a protest is turning into a riot, leave.
Do you really think companies would invest billions of dollars building a plant and not understand the visa requirements for the skilled workers they needed to send over for construction? ICE has been shown to arrest people and ask questions later. Once they have everyone rounded up, they can either find a way to cancel the visa with the help of the State Department, or quietly release the people who were wrongly detained. By that point ICE has hit their arrest quota and got their propaganda on the news.
The workers had the appropriate visas, but it didn't matter. And that is why the South Koreans are so pissed.
No I don't think some subcontractors have no qualms about breaking rules. But I also don't just assume based on no evidence that in this particular case they did. From what I've read the use of the foreign workers using visas that were not normally used for this purpose was approved, at least by the State of Georgia so the factory could get up and running quickly. I am however willing to change my mind about what really went down depending on evidence.
"Do you really think companies would invest billions of dollars building a plant and not understand the visa requirements for the skilled workers they needed to send over for construction?"
Yes. It takes time and money. They also seem to have wanted to bring in more foreign workers than they really need. A bit of arrogance due to the size of the company and that they are "investing" in technology in the US and should be given extra "consideration"?
From some news reports I've read, a good portion of the workers didn't have proper, valid, unexpired visas. (Reuters)
Oh, they had visas. Whether they're valid for the exact work being done is the question. B1 business visas have been used for this sort of work (setting up factory machines) before but their applicability under the law is unclear, they're supposed to be for businessmen coming in to cut deals and their staff. H1B visas would work, but that involves months of delays and a literal lottery.This would have been arranged by Hyundai not by the people doing the work.
In any case if this battery plant is to be used then they need these people - they're not available in America, at least in the number required. After this treatment (which was terrible, to be clear; the conditions in ICE jails are awful, there were insults flung by ICE bigots who apparently don't know the difference between North and South Korea, and attempts were made to pressure them into signing documents which criminalized them) they won't want to come back. Governor Kemp and President Trump both want the battery plant to work rather than moving it to Mexico so I expect there'll be some quiet deal made eventually. It won't help the near-term jobs figures for Georgia though.
They were also chained at the hands, waists, and feet before being dragged into the waiting bus. I mean just how (words fail me again!) can you get to treat these people, mostly engineers, literally like runaway slaves! Where is karma when you really need it, NOW?
The "funniest" part is after that mistreatment Trump had his minions beg those people to stay and they all refused (or all but one refused, I've seen it reported both ways) Good luck getting anyone else willing to come after that mistreatment. That plant will NEVER open, and I hope that Karen that called ICE on them gets so much hate from her fellow townsfolk over ruining the economy and costing them their jobs that she's forced to move to a different state and change her name.
ICE is deporting an Irish woman recently despite being married to an American citizen (she had never applied for citizenship and had committed some minor misdemeanor years ago) and regularly harasses Canadians coming across the border.
Don't assume that whiteness means you won't be subject to unjustified harassment entering the country, it just means you won't get the worst treatment that they'll continue to reserve for those of darker skin tones.
"ICE is deporting an Irish woman recently despite being married to an American citizen (she had never applied for citizenship"
Yep, that's an issue. Marrying somebody in the US is a path to get a Green Card and then citizenship, but it's not automatic. It's a very good idea to start the process before getting married since there can still be issues that prevent residency or citizenship and maybe even being allowed in the country at all. There's also often a year ban on working so the US spouse needs to have the ability to support them during that interval. A person I know in the US married a Canadian citizen and they formed a company that billed her time via the company as she worked remotely for the same firm she was with in Canada.
I'm adding a few years to that because it'll take a while to fix the horrendous mess he is making of the country.
TBH, I'm not even sure it's still fixable. The fact that the people that are losing their jobs and livelihoods still blame someone else for their misfortune is not a good sign for the future.
I've literally seen people post blaming the democrats "for not giving me a better alternative" as the reason they voted for Trump. With that mentality Trump could personally execute their family in front of them before putting a bullet in their forehead and their last words would be to ask "why did the democrats do this to me?"
@DS999
"With that mentality Trump could personally execute their family in front of them before putting a bullet in their forehead and their last words would be to ask "why did the democrats do this to me?""
And at some point surely the dems need some self reflection. Take your terrible example, who called to defund the police? Which party opened the border and proud and loud defend and protect the criminals? Think of how terrible the dems must be if Trump can be so bad and at the same time be the less worse option!
It shouldnt be difficult to put of a half decent candidate and the dems put up the corpse of Biden and Harris! That was a public display of shooting yourself in the foot with both barrels. Then we have 10 years of trying to 'get' Trump which turns out to be even more toxic due to behaviour under Obama and somehow you still question how Trump was the least worse choice!
The root of the problem seems to be that America is so misogynistic that they refuse to consider a female president.
Ooh, Hillary had some emails that weren't administered by the government. That's literally nothing compared to all of the stuff Trump has done, but was used against her.
Kamala, I don't actually know what the problem was with her other than that she'd supported Biden. She probably wasn't corrupt enough.
Frankly, I'm amazed that America had a black president but still won't vote female (Obama remains the only US president who I respect).
I'm proud to be right-pondian where we've had both female monarchs and prime ministers.
@AC
"The root of the problem seems to be that America is so misogynistic that they refuse to consider a female president."
Are you sure? Is it not possible that that the offered candidates were not very good?
"Ooh, Hillary had some emails that weren't administered by the government. That's literally nothing compared to all of the stuff Trump has done, but was used against her."
Interesting comparison but also misses out the dodgy dossier and the 'selection process' to put Hillary as the option. Trump was the popular outsider for the republicans and won the republican support. Sanders was the popular outsider for the dems and was rejected because the dems didnt care about their supporters, Hillary was the anointed one. Trump had to work to be president, Hillary expected it on a plate and insulted anyone who didnt just see her greatness?
"Kamala, I don't actually know what the problem was with her other than that she'd supported Biden. She probably wasn't corrupt enough."
Totally useless, pretended Biden was ok long after the reality was exposed and was totally incapable. Her interviews were so terrible one station had to pay out because they chopped up the interview and moved her answers around to try and make her answers make sense. She was as numb as Biden without the mental degradation excuse. Also as Biden made very clear she was a DEI hire.
"Frankly, I'm amazed that America had a black president but still won't vote female (Obama remains the only US president who I respect)."
Careful with giving him too much respect in case it blinds you to the realities that are being exposed. It seems Obama instructed that the lie of Trump/Russia was to be pushed. As the truth comes out it seems he was corrupt enough to be worse than Trump by trying to subvert democracy and take out his political opponent as we would expect someone like Putin would.
"I'm proud to be right-pondian where we've had both female monarchs and prime ministers."
Same. A strong part of that pride is that none of our women leaders have been DEI hires. Like them or not they got there by competing with the men.
who called to defund the police? Which party opened the border and proud and loud defend and protect the criminals?
The problem is your right wing media tells you those things and you believe it. Did SOME people call for defunding the police? Sure. Is the republican party responsible for everything that SOME republicans say? Biden never "opened the border" unless by that you mean was forced by a court to stop the covid era policy of not letting people cross and request asylum.
There was a bipartisan bill in congress to fix a lot of the border issues - mainly authored by James Lankford of Oklahoma so it was much more of a republican bill than democrat. Nevertheless Biden was willing to sign it because it fixed issues like having too few immigration judges which is why people are here for a long period before their asylum request is heard. But Trump ordered his minions in the House to kill the bill, because he wanted to run on an insecure border. And he's REDUCED the number of immigration judges, while massively increasing ICE's budget and building detention centers. He just wants to lock people up. You have to ask yourself why that is? Republicans are already pushing the notion that non citizens don't have any constitution rights, so maybe he wants to use them as slaves on farms. Instead of paying sub minimum wage illegals, pay a bribe to Trump and get some slaves to work your fields?
I'm sure you'll scoff at this notion and I'm just guessing, but what's YOUR explanation for why he's cutting immigration judges while increasing the number of people rounded up? The math doesn't work, so either they're going to be put to work somehow, or the objective is simple cruelty. Leave them locked up forever, stopping all illegal immigration (and legal immigration) through simple fear - fear that you do something wrong or Trump changes the rules in the middle of the night and suddenly ICE sticks you in a dark hole somewhere with no access to a lawyer where suicide or natural death are the only ways out.
@DS999
"Did SOME people call for defunding the police?"
Yes- https://rsc-pfluger.house.gov/democrats-push-defund-police
And Harris herself (this one is CNN so not right wing)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdd3XQv8LRc
"The problem is your right wing media tells you those things and you believe it."
I posted a link to a right wing site for quoting the democrats directly. If you can find a left wing media providing the list of dems and their comments please do post it. I would love to see if a left leaning media reports this.
"Sure. Is the republican party responsible for everything that SOME republicans say?
No. Yet it was something loud and proud by many who are in positions of power and some cities actually doing so.
"Biden never "opened the border""
https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/522785-does-the-us-owe-amnesty-to-future-illegal-immigrants/
Hell even just look at the figures for border encounters and how many illegals have been let go to roam the US with court dates years after they arrive. Your claim doesnt stand up to reality sorry. One of the earliest absolute wins for the Trump admin was the immediate drop in illegals encountered at the border.
"But Trump ordered his minions in the House to kill the bill, because he wanted to run on an insecure border"
Is that the reason? Are you peddling this? Do you actually believe it? Or was it killed for another reason?
"Republicans are already pushing the notion that non citizens don't have any constitution rights, so maybe he wants to use them as slaves on farms. Instead of paying sub minimum wage illegals, pay a bribe to Trump and get some slaves to work your fields?"
That comment could not be any dumber. You realise the lefty argument for illegal immigration is to do the jobs americans dont want to? At less than minimum wage.
"I'm sure you'll scoff at this notion and I'm just guessing, but what's YOUR explanation for why he's cutting immigration judges while increasing the number of people rounded up? The math doesn't work"
Why does the math not work? To start with rounding up the flood of illegals (criminal) that shouldnt be there and deporting them is the top priority after 4 years of importing illegals (hence criminal) including people who commit crimes in their home countries, criminal gangs and of course illegals who go on to commit crimes in the US. As for not just judges but also lawyers who coach illegals to say the right things, they should be fired. The point is not to have an open border.
"Leave them locked up forever,"
Where is this bull from? If you havnt noticed he is very much for deporting them. Either back to their country or a third country willing to take them. Reading your comment you have some very strange ideas
I live here, so kind of stuck. But if I lived abroad and had even a hint of brown in my complexion, I'd compare going to the US similar to going to Russia. Random arrest a distinct possibility for doing nothing wrong. Meanwhile you have Americans go visit Turks & Caicos with guns in their luggage (an island with pretty well known gun restrictions) and somehow Americans get their panties in a bunch about the mistreatment of Americans. Duh. Don't pack guns and ammo.
"Meanwhile you have Americans go visit Turks & Caicos with guns in their luggage (an island with pretty well known gun restrictions) and somehow Americans get their panties in a bunch about the mistreatment of Americans."
Americans will also have pot in their bags and will have not thought anything about it (too long being stoned?) until the dog at customs finds them. Kinda sucks to be on a really long flight to Australia and then be immediately turned around on the next flight out. There's no fixing stupid. Anybody getting on a plane with firearms improperly should be banned from owning them and flying. In the US, they are legal to take in checked baggage, unloaded, declared and inside hard-sided luggage with a non-TSA lock that's secured after being specially screened and approved. There's almost no provision for taking a personal firearm internationally anywhere. Where it is allowed, there's a laundry list of permissions and requirements. I can take my own shotgun from the US to the UK, but not on my own. It would have to go to a licensed person/firm/club in the UK where it's held and I can check it in and out when I go on a hunt. It's much easier to borrow one if I wanted to go on a hunt and go through a lengthy process to get a hunting license. Not bloody likely.
"I see stuff like this going on and find myself seriously questioning if I'm happy going."
Get the correct visa, be honest about the reason for your visit and declare the things you need to declare. I've never had an issue traveling all over the world both as a tourist and for work. Another good bit of advice is to not dabble in grey areas. Weapons, non-prescribed medication and large amounts of cash. Some drugs aren't a good idea even if you think you have a prescription such as pot, Ritalin or Xanax. Always check beforehand and ask your doctor about alternatives if necessary plus arranging some way of getting refills while abroad. If you are caught lying or are suspected of trying to hide something, everything you have said and written down is immediately going to be questioned.
@MachDiamond
"Get the correct visa, be honest about the reason for your visit and declare the things you need to declare."
I am amused and saddened that your common sense posts somehow attract downvotes as though some people are so entitled to think they dont need to follow the law. I wouldnt be surprised if you are now presumed MAGA for suggesting such normal and rational things.
so entitled to think they dont need to follow the law.
Did you follow the law when living and working in another country? Did you follow all the correct visa and/or work permit rules? (Or registration with the local police?) Tell us all which country that was...
Or were you an illegal at the time? Inquiring minds ...
@AC
"Did you follow the law when living and working in another country? Did you follow all the correct visa and/or work permit rules? (Or registration with the local police?)"
Absolutely, and it wasnt the police you had to notify but the local authority where you registered. So if these people were detained for being there illegally (through expired visa or violating the restrictions of that type of visa) then it shouldnt be unexpected for them to be deported.
I do think it is a little heavy handed shackling them for what I guess was a photo opportunity but with so many illegals it would be hard to maintain control over such a large group. I keep waiting to see that ICE was wrong and these people had valid visa's considering the complaints.
@AC
"So to be clear, you had a work permit? And/or a declared means of support."
We were still in the EU when I moved. I followed all the necessary procedures of residency although I didnt work in that country (I work remotely).
"Otherwise it could be seen as rank hypocrisy on your part, yes?"
As I managed to stay within the law and legally move into another country for a time there is no hypocrisy.
I can only guess by your line of questioning that you believe these people arrested by ICE did not have valid visa's and so would be deported for violating the rules?
We were still in the EU when I moved.
That cannot be right. Do you yourself not use the UK's covid vaccine procurement process as a benefit of the UK being out of the EU?!
Hmmm All very fishy. Which country was this?
Sounds like a case of being an illegal to me.
@AC
"That cannot be right. Do you yourself not use the UK's covid vaccine procurement process as a benefit of the UK being out of the EU?!"
Shockingly enough I do point to the UK's covid vaccine procurement process as a benefit of brexit and I SAW IT FIRST HAND FROM WITHIN THE EU!!! This is why when people stupidly lie I was actually over there while the people here were being vaccinated including my family! That vaccine was produced and then shipped to the UK that actually ordered it upset more than a few locals, they were very unhappy at the incompetent EU.
I followed all the necessary procedures of residency although I didnt work in that country (I work remotely).
The story you would like us to believe is you visited an unknown country as an EU citizen (probably one classified as constitutive instead of declaratory), were probably paid wages or received consultancy fees in a UK bank account without bothering local officialdom, and left before the end of the transition period because remote work would probably caused a problem for you as you'd finally have to change your country of tax residency if you stayed. You also probably couldn't apply for post-Brexit residency in the first place as your bank account and the company were located outside the unknown EU country you were living in. Nothing to be particularly proud of.
Ardent Brexiteer travels to an unamed EU country, (during the transition period, no less) using freedom of movement rules they voted against. Worked without bothering about details like tax residency. Contributes nothing to that country at all, but avails themselves of all and any services.
Exactly the type of person flag-waving Brexiteers still rail against.
Then posts on a comment section glorifying the jackbooted tactics of US ICE mercenaries throwing such people out of the country.
It is beyond hypocrisy.
"I do think it is a little heavy handed shackling them for what I guess was a photo opportunity but with so many illegals it would be hard to maintain control over such a large group."'
I'm of the opinion that they were being very heavy handed. Somebody with an expired visa being picked up doesn't fit the profile of a violent criminal. It would have gone much easier and far less controversially if they just directed everybody to a waiting bus and took them "downtown" where they could do the proper checks. I do see there being a point of it being too hard to do that in the field. Something sparked the action so there must have been some information about a large number of workers being ineligible to work. Bonus for doing the checks quickly and returning people back to the job site so they could collect their cars if they wanted.
I won't entirely rule it out, but wanton harassment of Hyundai/LG for political reasons doesn't seem likely.
"I am amused and saddened that your common sense posts somehow attract downvotes as though some people are so entitled to think they dont need to follow the law. "
I think that many people don't consider that the law will be different in other countries and take it for granted that since they're American (usually) they should be allowed to carry on. As I have said, I've traveled extensively for various reasons and never had an issue. Much of this was before the internet really took off and now there are many official resources for travel information and tons of negative lessons from people that have run up against the legal differences in other countries than they are from.
Downvotes I'm used to. Every once in a while, I find that I've been stupid about something, sometimes it's down to an unpopular/differing viewpoint and the majority of the time I'm left wondering WTH. This is especially the case where there's several downvotes and no rebuttal. Oh well. I do have one or two people that don't like me and will downvote any post I make even if it's no more than a Douglas Adams/Monty Python/XKCD link. I gave up being popular in high school many decades ago.
The optics on this are pretty terrible. There's plenty with long memories in the east Asian business world, and regardless of how US politics develops from here it's going to take a long time to forget this incident. Mexico or Canada is going to look like a safer bet.
Georgia is an important state in presidential elections too as I understand it. I wonder how hot the phone line between DC and the Governor's office is?
Very.
It's the one where the FOCF got on the phone and told the guy running the voting process to "Find" another 11 000 because "I know I've won."
Of course non of these people are US citizens so I don't think they can vote.
But I'll bet the folk who want to work in this plant are US citizens. And they might be a bit miffed at the delay in getting their first paycheck.
I don't think they'll put out just because of the treatment of their staff by the local Aholes,
Personally I'd look at the costs and benefits of a US plant. The question is will it be a real plant or is it just a piece of "Performance art" that will be under construction while the FOCF is in power (with minimal investment) and then shut down or if it's really going into actual production.
I don't know enough either way to say. Either could be a smart move, give the wild mood swings of the Toddler-in-Chief.
"But I'll bet the folk who want to work in this plant are US citizens. And they might be a bit miffed at the delay in getting their first paycheck"
The original opening wasn't that soon so I would expect people that might get employed there aren't sitting around at home waiting. Are you guessing or is there mainstream news reporting on this? I've had jobs where I was "hired" and just waiting for a start date that never came to be. I don't take the company seriously until there's a firm start date that seems plausible. An unfinished factory can be delayed for all sorts of reasons. It's like the many new EV charging sites that are done and waiting to get a transformer that are in short supply. The charging companies can only say "coming soon".
I have always been a supporter of ID cards, just completely opposed to any requirement to carry them at all times and produce them on demand. That way it's a benefit for _me_ and not a tool to allow any overly aggressive law enforcement to push me around.
Since moving to Germany five years since, I have carried my residence card in my wallet. I have had to show it, other than when accessing government services in various offices, _once_. When the car was pulled by a random immigration check at the border with Holland...
Most but certainly not all Americans do have ID cards complete with a picture that they carry at all times when they are away from home. It's a drivers license. Recently in my state (Texas) they required solid proof of citizenship so they could make a Real ID license as required by state law. Luckily for me I have a certified copy of my birth registration, birth certificates are not legal documents i Texas, that I got when I applied for a passport. At the time it was in my city's records department so all it took to obtain it was a trip to the records department in downtown. Now they are moved to the state records department in Austin which would have made it much more difficult to get. Strangely in many states the police can not demand that you provide ID unless certain legal prerequisites are met first. Apparently these laws do not apply to masked and armed federal agents with no visible ID (oh the irony). Which is probably OK since many of them don't have enough training to do much more than throw people to the ground, handcuff them, and drag them to the back of an unmarked van. At least these skills pay well.
Most but certainly not all Americans do have ID cards complete with a picture that they carry at all times when they are away from home
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK are you talking about here?
Do most Americans have a picture card ID? Yes, it is called a driver's license. Do they "carry it at all times when they are away from home", NO THEY MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT. You think people out jogging or biking or walking their dog or riding as a passenger in a car or a bus or a train are all carrying their driver's license? Why the fuck would they do that?
There used to be these things called "wallets" that people took with them all the time, and they'd keep their license in that, so if they took their wallet with them they'd have their license. It is becoming less common to always carry your wallet with you when you leave the house, because in most places you can pay for stuff with your phone - which has replaced the wallet as the "thing you never leave home without".
"Do they "carry it at all times when they are away from home", NO THEY MOST CERTAINLY DO NOT. You think people out jogging or biking or walking their dog or riding as a passenger in a car or a bus or a train are all carrying their driver's license? "
Yes, I think they do. It's usually in a wallet or purse and how many people leave their house without those? If you are out getting exercise, you may want to stop for a coffee or cold drink and many people are using a card for even those purchases. If you've got your debit/credit card, why would you not also have an ID as well? I'm a guy so all of that lives in my wallet and only on rare occasions do I leave the wallet behind, but I will then put my DL and a payment card in a front pocket. If I'm riding as a passenger, there's a chance I might be asked to drive. That's rare in my case, but it's happened.
Ditto in Belgium. You're supposed to always have it on you but for the decade I've had it I've never *once* been asked by police outside unless they had a need to identify you (for instance at the site of an accident). It also does allow me to add a digital signature under a PDF that has a formal, legal validity in all of Europe (as there's a full certificate chain, and - for instance - Adobe Acrobat can automatically validate it and certify the signature origin), and it acts as an authentication mechanism to all government services.
Now OK, I'm guessing if you annoy a police officer and he'll discover you don't have the ID card on you they can legitimately fine you, but it normally rarely happens especially if you have anything else on you that identifies you. Not so for driving licenses, but they're pretty relaxed about ID cards as far as I know.
IDK. Are you a buzzard (US vulture)?
If you are, then yes.
And (just like Nazi Germany) they were elected after a previous failed coup attempt (by a wafer thin majority of your neighbours, which explains his deep desire to jerrymander the hell out of Con-gressional districts before the mid-terms), except the FOCF didn't even see the inside of a jail cell and the notion of him actually writing a book in such a cell if he did is laughable.
Not alone in that BTW. OTOH Argentina flushed their main Ahole, Bolsinaro. We dumped Bul***it Boris (although the grifter-in-Chief AKA Reforms CEO is looking a bit unflushable. At the moment).
That still leave his Argentinian counterpart "El Loco." The bozo who gave Leon his chainsaw. An unfortunate accident with said chainsaw remains an unlikely longshot (although I bet someone is running a deadpool on him).
Of course in the US because of it's astonishingly fragile democracy you'll need to flush a few more down the pan.
You might call it a "Regime change." Remember the FOCF bitched for 4 looooong years how he'd been cheated out of 2020 (he hadn't). You think he's not going to take a run at 2028? He hasn't let the Constitution hinder him up to now. Why would any sane person think it's going to stop him now?
"According to AI, they changed the rules this April so you must keep either a paper or digital copy of your visa on your person all the time"
Many countries require foreign visitors to have their passport or a copy with them since they have no way to verify any other out-of-country ID. It's a good idea too since anywhere one might need to show ID, a passport might be the only one they'll accept as a main form of ID. It might work out in your favor too if you get held up for something and the coppers decide that trying to haul in a foreign national for something trivial will be more paperwork than it's worth.
A visa is attached to your passport. Either physically or electronically. There are many countries were it is, as a visitor, compulsory to carry your passport.
We have the privileged of holding His Majesty's passports, which gives access to many visa free/waiver agreements worldwide. (Even for the plebs, would you believe!)
But that does not remove the requirement to carry that passport with you.
@Blackjack
"ICE was literally caught on Camera arrresting and deporting people that legally were allowed to stay in the USA."
Were they? From what I have read (and I have not been keeping up with the story) the South Koreans were using the wrong visa. It sounds like a heavy handed approach was used and maybe the US should consider making it easier to get the right kind of visa but I have yet to hear that these people were legally allowed to be working as they were in the US. I saw it mentioned that this has been used as a 'grey area'
Early one spring morning in gay Paris, the police were banging on a door and shouting "We know you are a tourist but please become a resident Monsieur Codejunky, we are 'ere to 'and deliver a Carte de Séjour to you". Codejunky nonchalantly leant out an upstairs Baroque Palladian window and shouted back, "That's Mr Codejunky to you and no, I'm too good for the likes of you and this country which I shall never name again. I never really wanted to be here anyway, I'm going back to the US, er, the sunlit uplands. And I will tell this story on an IT news site whenever Brexit is mentioned, and everyone will believe me because my story is so credible". And with that he gathered his skirts and flounced off.
Show their visas? How exactly?
ICE never gave these guys a chance. They swarmed in like storm troopers and detained almost everyone. I don't know about you, but if I'm away working or even as a tourist, my passport and other supporting docs stay in a safe at the hotel (or wherever I deem a safe home base). I don't carry anything but the essentials - wallet and maybe driving license if driving. How are the detained going to be able to get their visa and passport which is safely locked away - they may not have had any local family to help?!
I hope that the US isn't becoming like the former Soviet Bloc and requiring "papers" everywhere you go - even whilst knee high in a dip tank of metal degreaser, or paint? The people who agreed to the idea of the raid should be fired, and maybe arrested for at least reckless endangerment of the public - there were guns present and IIRC used!
All ICE had to do was approach management at the plant and request all employees bring in their supporting docs and passport within a few days. Anyone who didn't provide would be investigated further. Simple, less violent, and low chance of political fallout - in fact it probably wouldn't have got any political notice at all.
The entire world does not operate like you say. Here in the UK you still have a basic right of anonymity - just about (recent governments have tried to erode this right many times with the failed ID card introduction). For example, you don't need to produce a drivers license or insurance documents if stopped in your car, but may be asked to take them to a police station within 7 days. UK immigraton visited where I worked once and did exactly what I said ICE should have done - requested all documents be made available for them for a later date. No drama. Only pain was for those on vacation or off sick to also produce proof of absense or a doctor's note, but no raids and all very civilised.
TBH - and bear with me here - i've walked around cities in Europe and Canada on my own* late at night (I'm talking 2am-ish) when having trouble sleeping (travel really hits me hard sometimes - even short journeys). Vancouver, Heidelburg, Paris, Hamburg, and not a problem - just wave and/or nod at the local law enforcement when they're near and all good. One time around Winter 2007 IIRC I was consulting in Moscow (I know next to zilch of Russian except the pleasentries). Not focused enough to sit and read and my body was still jittery. So initially walked a few miles and sat in Red Square for a time - Saint Basil's looked amazing at night without the crowds. I did approach a couple of policemen in the Square at one point and asked if it's okay to take pictures of the Kremlin as I walked around the giant fortress. They could speak halting english, but well enough to ask why I was around at that time of the morning (around 3am-ish) and I just straight told them couldn't sleep. They shrugged and said okay so I got a few shots on my pocket camera as I waved and nodded at the Kremlin guards and local Police in acknowledgement, then taking a seat in the square again. No problems, not stopped, no hassle, and no request for papers. Then I just kept on walking around the dark city (very few street lights - old Cold War policy I figured) crossing the Moskva a few times and finding little basement bars on occasion. Next thing I know people and traffic start to appear. On my way back to the hotel (around 5 or 6-ish) I stumbled upon a little corner "cafe" serving breakfast to friendly, mostly overall clad, workers who were eager to test their english. Good coffee, hearty meal and a few laughs to end with before going back to the hotel and then work surprisingly refreshed despite no sleep.
Anyway, it's sadly probably not a good idea to do this nowadays, but back then - all good and a highly memorable time. To get to my point, this cool, laid back, even restful type of experience as a foreigner should be possible in any US city now and always, according to how the government pushes the lore. In reality, just walking around at any time of day seems actively discouraged, except maybe the tourist traps and commuter routes, and night time/early morning especially is a no-no unless you have a place to get to ("drive or take a cab" you're told - even for a few blocks). So, you just can't chill out, relax and let the night wash over you, as you're constantly looking over your shoulder and avoiding shadows. Maybe that's what "Home of the brave" means in the anthem - 'cause you can't, daren't, try to relax and be care free at 2am.
-----
*Tried to in Johannesburg, but guy at the hotel desk said no-can-do unless I was "escorted". Not sure what to expect, but a minibus of 8-10 armed militia turned up within 15 mins of a phone call and they followed me as I walked, and waited nearby when I was sat down at benches. A friendly lot, some were brothers apparently, but serious of their role as protectors from criminals and other militia, and they didn't ask any questions as to why I was out, alone, in the middle of the night. Little did I know that i'd meet most of them again later escorting us from Joburg to Sandton and back on an evening out with the customer.
Slight correction.
According to one worker's recounting, ICE first showed up and checked documents, left, and then 4 hours later came back and started arresting people.
Once arrested, they were put into overcrowded jails and had bad to no food, not enough beds and not enough blankets and pillows and were held for three days with no outside contact.
As for correct documentation, we only have Hyundai's word they did and ICE's word they didn't. If they didn't, a warning to Hyundai and time given to correct the issue would have been sufficient. A showboat raid and arrests was not the way to handle this.
Now S. Korea is now re-evaluating 350 BILLION in planned and current investments in the USA.
In the meantime, Hyundai first said they would abandon the plant, but has since said they will continue, but there will be at least 2-3 month delay. I think it will be much longer. Even just 2-3 months will have a serious knock-on effect on the local businesses.
The problem was pressure to build the factories under Trump's very loud and clear demands, but USCIS would not issue the visas.
[Fortune] US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau on Sunday expressed regret over the recent detention of hundreds of South Korean workers in Georgia ... Landau acknowledged the significant role Korean companies play in revitalizing US manufacturing. Both countries discussed accelerating working-level consultations to ensure work visas are issued appropriately in recognition of Korean workers’ contributions. Despite having a free trade agreement with the US since 2012, South Korea has never received a dedicated visa quota, unlike several other FTA partners. The US has granted specific quotas to Australia, Singapore and Chile, while Canada and Mexico have no caps, according to law firms. This discrepancy is a significant source of frustration for Seoul, highlighting a major gap in the bilateral economic relationship.
So this is a situation where the boss issued orders that could not be fulfilled by the Korean Bosses (Trump's Underbosses), and those Korean Bosses in turn shoved the paradoxical consequences onto the Korean Engineer Workers.
Seems pretty obvious to me that the problem could have and should have been solved before chaining up the engineers. But it doesn't surprise me.
"It’s one thing to claim you held a valid visa, how about showing the actual visa?"
There were a lot of anomalies based on news reports I've read. I believe there was justification for checking up, but I think it was handled rather badly. It wouldn't have been that hard to cordon the area and take the workers information as they left the job site and done the checking off-site rather than rounding everybody up and putting them in paddy wagons. I expect that anybody that knew they were not legally allowed to work would fail to show up the next day. The next morning, people could be checked back on site at the start of their shift so there's a record of who didn't show up and those found to not be permitted to work could either been turned away and given a summons or taken into custody at that point depending on the circumstances.
LG's claim is they had 300 specialists brought in to install and commission manufacturing equipment. That rings hollow. I've done work like that and it has always been a few specially trained people directing local workers other than final checkouts and calibration. For the company to need 300 people brought to the US for the project, there would be thousands of local workers too. I could be mistaken and they do need that many, but they should be able to show that to the US State department to have the visas approved, in advance.
I've worked all over the world and it's always required a special, non-tourist, visa. Sometimes I had to arrange it, but more often the people I worked for took care of it and I was given the confirmation paperwork to show if necessary. I never did have to show my papers, but that was some time ago and the world has changed since then.
They also could have required the companies to provide visa information for all of their on-site employees. After receiving that list, they could have gone to the site and called a site wide meeting to verify the data while the employees were on the clock. Anyone who tried to bolt for the exits could be arrested and detained. Anyone without the proper visa could have been sent home and the company fined.
But ICE agents aren't expected to treat people with respect. They are there to intimidate. And had they done the above it never would have made it beyond the local news. The message is clear, "we don't want you here." It's not just foreigners, it's also anyone who disagrees with the current administration. Right now there are minions furiously searching for a way to strip citizenship so 'undesirables' can be deported too.
Are you really this obtuse or are you posturing? When a foreign company comes to set up a factory, they bring their own people to set it up. Or do you think Ford and GM get Mexicans to build their factories? Those people were not illegal immigrants.
Visas? They'll only ask for that AFTER they've arrested you and they aren't going to let you out of their clutches. It's all about numbers to them.
ICE fucked up here, and cost American jobs. Trump is soon going to get tired of so much winning. You're all going to find out just how many friends you don't have, too, if you leave your little world, with the way this administration is shitting internationally.
It wasn't like that, as I'm sure you know.
> Like, let’s suppose your an American and “some guy” invites you to come work in South Korea. Do you really think they’d just let you do that without, at some point or other, producing a valid work visa?
Actually, they do. They'll often let it slide. What they definitely won't do, however, is shackle the workers around their legs and bodies in chains at gunpoint, throw them in disgusting jail cells with inadequate food and water.
Wake up. Watch this: https://youtu.be/st-RLBlSHl8
Yeah, they are still pissed at the Japanese for WW 2 "comfort girls", I probably would be too. If I were the CEO of Hyundai I'd tell TACO Trump to look for another company to build a battery plant and bring manufacturing back to the US. After that ugly American display good luck finding one. I bet this is going over really well with the people and government of the reddish state of Georgia.
I think that will happen, but far more subtle.
It is likely you'll see them take in some Americans for 'training' whereas the building of the factory will suffer all sorts of delays (using every bit of incompetence introduced by Trump and cronies) that prevent serious capital investment being sunk into it. They'll just keep that going until Trump is at the end of term (which, I suspect, will prompt some major emergency to postpone elections because once he is an ex president he'd still be facing those 34 indictments) and then walk away.
I do not think Hyundai is going to move itself firther towards a position where their knowhow and technology can be competed with from the US after what is basically not a slap in the face but more a kick in the cojones (well, it was ICE). That would be dishonourable, and I simply cannot see it happen. This will now be as minimal an effort as they can get away with.
Oh it was such a totally and utterly awful backpedalling too. Trump, using his personal propaganda outlet TruthSocial (as a rule, anything online whether a service or a username with the word "truth" in it, is as far from the truth as is possible), is used to ranting and frothing like a demented toddler with anger issues and apparently this is an adult doing diplomacy. He must have gone even more orange than usual having to write something where he didn't spray spittle over the screen without trying to blame Biden for something, or leftists, or anyone other than the cretin responsible (him). It still reads like a demented toddler with delusions of self-importance wrote it, so it was almost certainly his work:
When Foreign Companies who are building extremely complex products, machines, and various other “things,” come into the United States with massive Investments, I want them to bring their people of expertise for a period of time to teach and train our people how to make these very unique and complex products, as they phase out of our Country, and back into their land. If we didn’t do this, all of that massive Investment will never come in the first place — Chips, Semiconductors, Computers, Ships, Trains, and so many other products that we have to learn from others how to make, or, in many cases, relearn, because we used to be great at it, but not anymore. For example, Shipbuilding, where we used to build a Ship a day and now, we barely build a Ship a year. I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize Investment into America by outside Countries or Companies. We welcome them, we welcome their employees, and we are willing to proudly say we will learn from them, and do even better than them at their own “game,” sometime into the not too distant future!
After the ICE gestapo raid on the plant a trump lickspittle posted
Any foreign workers brought in for specific projects must enter the United States legally and with proper work authorizations. President Trump will continue delivering on his promise to make the United States the best place in the world to do business, while also enforcing federal immigration laws....which was despite all of the workers being there legitimately. In the meantime, the usual sociopathic MAGA cultists were screaming about how great the raid was, how the illegal immigrants deserved it, and to be treated like animals and criminals, and so on.
For entirely explicable reasons, the South Korean government was very unamused by the entire disgusting situation. If the plant wasn't so far along construction it would almost certainly have been just cancelled and moved and built in a civilised country instead. It still might be I guess, or possibly just delayed hoping for a regime change.
"If the plant wasn't so far along construction it would almost certainly have been just cancelled and moved and built in a civilised country instead. It still might be I guess, or possibly just delayed hoping for a regime change."
I don't suppose the South Koreans are going to fall for the sunk cost fallacy. It might still be abandoned after a few technical problems affecting the commercial viability or some such explanation.
"Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau reportedly expressing “deep regret” over the incident."
Words are cheap, but no action can be taken to prevent this from happening again and again.
So many foreigners with funny skin and accents. I am pretty sure ICE will raid the next project building site too.
Just as Satan Miller ordered
"no action can be taken to prevent this from happening again and again."
It can but would require ripping the balls of a good proportion of the ICE chain of command, sufficiently well publicised to get through the skulls of the rest.
So much for foreign investment in America. Why would any foreign company subject their employees to this? So tell me again how tariffs will bring that investment to America and why Howard the "court jester" Lutnick, Scott Kenneth Homer (oh, that explains it) Bessent, and Kevin "smiley face" Hassett keeps telling us that foreign countries pay the tariffs.
It's not just that - Trump has demolished the legal system by which you could have any recourse against someone not sticking to their contract or agreement (something Trump was already known for before he became President) so these are in principle worthless.
Would you want to do business with a nation that can stiff you at any time and even take a slice of your profits (as they did with Tiktok)?
Trust is hard to come by and easy to lose. Trump set a new record on losing it.
That's literally the only thing that gives me hope that the US won't sink into a banana republic dictatorship. Trump's incompetence will undo it. Well that and the hope that his cankles and regular IV infusions bruising his hand indicate he's at death's door and doesn't live out this term.
JD Vance lacks whatever weird magnetism Trump has for attracting morons, there will be some massive infighting on who takes over MAGA once Trump is thankfully six feet under.
> regular IV infusions bruising his hand
> who takes over MAGA once Trump is thankfully six feet under
Those are infusions of embalming fluid, so he can "get used to how it feels" as he continues with his plan to rule for ever and a day. Zombie President: Make America Grey Aaagghhh (braaainsss)
Right, I hope he will be hoisted far and away.
It is worthwhile to read the level of truly deep devious stupidity and contempt of law and decency at work here. Why would anyone want to work around law enforcement eager to act like this?
Trump Begging South Korea To Forget THAT ONE TIME He Imprisoned All Their Workers
"And now the South Korean government is saying it is investigating potential human rights violations during the episode too. Workers reported guns pointed at them, there were no translators for workers who didn’t speak English, and ICE did not read anyone their rights anyway. Agents refused to even look at their paperwork, and the workers were humiliatingly handcuffed and chained at the waist and feet with metal chains that burned them because they had been roasting in the Georgia sun. And ICE kept them chained up for the whole nine hours it took for them to raid the factory, and for the whole bus ride to the facility, as if they were violent criminals, even though everyone was cooperating."
"And THEN the detainees’ release and departure, originally planned for last Wednesday, was reportedly delayed for an entire 24 more hours while Donald Trump tried to negotiate for them to go back to work. And of course they were like no fucking thank you. The old man realized a few days after the raid that his ICE done fucked up, bigtime. Because the US does not have the technology, or the technological expertise, to make and install the battery and car-building autonomous robots, and South Korea has some of the most advanced robots in the world. In fact, one in 10 Korean workers IS a robot."
Trump offered to let detained Korean workers stay in US, but almost all heading home
"While the broader impact on South Korean investment in the U.S. has yet to become fully clear, some South Korean workers are decamping in droves from more of LG Energy Solution's U.S. production sites because of visa concerns, people familiar with the situation said."
He'll say one thing today and something else tomorrow. What good is a man's word if they'll change their tune on a whim? If anything, companies require stability and with the "very stable genious" in office, that's not going to happen, so investments will be backed off. It really isn't rocket science.
Amazon would get ratted out by the employees they so cheerfully abuse and it's not like it would be an advantage to have illiterate non-citizens working at slightly less than minimum wage. The errors would overwhelm the savings. Manual labor on farms and construction sites doesn't required much in the way of language skills, maths, etc.
This really hits locally. The Gordie Howe International Bridge (US-Canada) has plenty of American workers (unionized, I think, or at least hope) but the whole project has been funded and administered by Canada for various reasons. The US's domestic two-party squabbles kept getting in the way of this project for years. Finally, CA decided that all they needed was Congress, State Dept., Coast Guard and State of Michigan to sign a few papers and if was Build, Baby, Build.
Meanwhile, US infrastructure is underfunded and falling apart. I'm sure the current leadership would love to turn it all into toll roads and make "users" pay (dearly).
(Is this new bridge economically necessary? Probably. Necessary (to an engineer) due to the aging of the nearby Ambassador Bridge? Absolutely, plus other logistical and legal reasons. Helpful for Detroit's neighborhoods? Maybe. Nice to look at? Meh; kind of plain, but impressive none the less. Wouldn't mind parking nearby and biking on the multi-use path sometime, watch some boat traffic...)
"Surely a corporation from the land of the chaebol never breaks laws."
Your actions do not suddenly become legal, just, or smart when someone else broke the law.
The current administration has shot their own economic policy in the foot and crippled their plans to become less dependent on foreign technology. And you claim this was well worth it because some Korean companies must certainly have broken some unspecified laws at some unspecified times.
You really qualify as a MAGA Team member.
I'm just endlessly fascinated that there will be private armed guards to guard facilities in the US to protect their assets, not from other corps' hit squads because the US government has abdicated control, but because the US government is raiding them to prevent investment in the "wrong" thing for the corporations that gave more money to them.
This is the most pathetic cyberpunk dystopia. Gimme my robot arms, you assholes.
Really you want Robot Arms from ANY of the Techbro firms that exist at the moment?
They'd all require you to pay continuously for "updates", change the functionality at random & at cost ("What? You wanted your arms to be able to lift stuff up AND put them down, sorry that requires our Premium subscription..."), would require an always online internet connection, & would be declared obsolete and have their servers turned off after 5 years, requiring you to purchase new arms, which would require expensive surgery because the connections to your arm would have changed to some new proprietary configuration that doesnt match the previous arms.
You really want those robot arms now?
I want them to bring their people of expertise for a period of time to teach and train our people how to make these very unique and complex products, as they phase out of our Country, and back into their land
Did Trump really say something like "I want foreign businesses to come here, install their tools, teach us how to use them, and then fuck off"? Because that's what I read in that Xeet, or Truth or whatever Ministry of Truth propaganda channel that is.
"Be funny if Hyundai just shut down all its factories in America, and went back to South Korea."
That would be an enormous investment to walk away from. One of the big reasons why BYD isn't building plants and selling passenger cars in the US is what it would cost to install a sales and service network across the country. They are getting better returns on setting up elsewhere and biding their time. Something will break and they'll not have as large of a barrier to entry or can do a rebadging deal with somebody such as Ford or GM to mitigate a bunch of the costs.
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