In brief
A recent ICE raid at a Hyundai manufacturing plant in Georgia led to the detention of 475 individuals, most of whom were found to be working in violation of their visitor visas. The operation has provoked a response from South Korean diplomats and highlighted the ongoing tensions between U.S. immigration enforcement and foreign investment.
The car workers arrested in one of the largest ever US workplace immigration raids had violated their visitor visas, officials say.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said 475 people, mostly South Korean citizens - were found to be illegally working at a Hyundai plant in the US state of Georgia on Thursday.
People on short-term or recreational visas are not authorized to work in the US, ICE said, adding that the raid was necessary to protect American jobs.
South Korea, whose companies have promised to invest billions of dollars in key US industries in the coming years, partly to avoid tariffs, has sent diplomats to Georgia, and called for its citizens' rights to be respected.
The arrested workers were being held at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, until the agency decides where to move them next.
Of those detained, 300 are reported to be Korean nationals. Hyundai said in a statement that none of them were directly employed by the company.
In a statement on Friday, the ICE office in the city of Savannah said the raid was part of an active, ongoing criminal investigation.
The individuals arrested during the operation were found to be working illegally, in violation of the terms of their visas and/or statuses, the statement added.
But Charles Kuck, an immigration lawyer in Atlanta, told the New York Times that two of his clients were wrongly caught up in the raid.
He told the newspaper the pair were in the US under a visa waiver programme that allows them to travel for tourism or business for up to 90 days.
ICE said one of those detained was a Mexican citizen and green card holder with a lengthy rap sheet.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Steven Schrank said: We welcome all companies who want to invest in the US. And if they need to bring workers in for building or other projects, that's fine - but they need to do it the legal way.
The raid raises a possible tension between two of President Donald Trump's top priorities - building up manufacturing within the US and cracking down on illegal immigration. It could also put stress on the country's relationship with a key ally.
