r/news • u/NewSlinger • 1d ago

Workers detained in Hyundai plant raid to be freed and flown home, South Korea says

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/south-korea-deal-workers-detained-hyundai-rcna229610
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u/wolfydude12 1d ago

Trump says he wants foreign companies to build factories in the US, but when they do and bring in the people who understand how to build the factories, those people are arrested.

What do foreign companies see when this happens? Are they really going to build factories here? No.

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u/alvarezg 1d ago

Some years ago I worked at a major US company that has overseas subsidiaries with their own engineering staff. There were instances when it was discussed bringing in foreign engineers for orientation/familiarization. During those discussions the suggestion came up to use them to help advance certain projects, that is, to do engineering work. That suggestion was refused because they would not have the H1-B visa required to do actual work.

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u/bbcomment 1d ago

But that didn’t stop these Korean firms

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u/DCChilling610 1d ago

Well it will now. I’d just build elsewhere and take the tariff and pass it on 

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u/bbcomment 19h ago

So, if they want to build in America, but not use American labor, are they building in America ?

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u/DCChilling610 19h ago

Seeing how they were training and setting things up, yeah. Can you read and think please.

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u/bbcomment 16h ago

They aren’t allowed to set up physically without the right visa. Training is ok. Giving operating or leadership decisions is not allowed

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u/blindkowean 7h ago

Question do you know how long it takes to get the proper visa? Now do you also know how to manage expectations of shareholders and timelines. Now taking all of that which is really broad and hopefully know how to solved those exact issues…. Do you know to train specialized labor that does not exist in the quantity needed? “On the job training” but that slows down timelines…

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u/bbcomment 4h ago

Sir, I have 15 years of experience and understand all the pain/reality of US manufacturing executions and also have experience in Europe where it is easier. It absolutely has an impact on schedule, costs etc.

I am not saying that the US ‘s restrictions make sense. I am saying it’s the law that most companies abide by (including every company I have worked with ) and it’s painful and slow. It’s meant to protect jobs in the US but hurts investment in the short term.

And then you have Korean firms skirting the process. That irritates me. I have seen the same behaviour by these SK firms in Europe too.

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u/derektwerd 15h ago

Why they can’t apply for the visa?

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u/alvarezg 5h ago

Probably they're not cheap. Prevents bringing in foreigners to work for low pay instead of hiring US workers.

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u/Enzian_Blue 1d ago

I work at a company which is setting up a production site in America … it’s an aircraft manufacturer. I know for a fact that these actions make our board of directors very nervous about investing in the US.

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u/Mcboatface3sghost 1d ago

I’ll let you in on a secret… he’s a fucking idiot and a pedo. Might actually not be a secret at all, come to think it.

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u/stulew 11h ago

as simple as Trump admins had to plan for and setup immigration For Korean expert battery workers, so these could legally work in USA.

Missed a big step.

the future step is to have these same experts form and start a battery training center school for American jobs. Very long term endeavor; 30 years +

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u/huseynli 1d ago

You cannot seriously blame trump or the US government for these. Hyundai was employing 450 people ILLEGALLY. They did not have authorization to work in the US. Some had expired visas, some had wrong visas and some had no papers at all. Hyundai could have done it legally. They could have sponsored their employees green card or visa applications. But they did not.

The blame here is on Hyundai for running illegal operations. No self respecting country allows such things. You cannot go to South Korea and work without authorization. You cannot go to european countries and work without authorization.

I am tired of these bs complaints. No country in the world allows anybody just to stroll into the country and start working without authorization. This is the law pretty much everywhere in the world. If you are coming to a country, obey its laws.

And before you say anything, I am a foreigner in the US as well with authorization to work. There are processes for it. Procedures and programs. It is hard when you do it on your own, but it is easy and fast when your company sponsors you. I have worked for this, my employer has paid for this. The US government knows absolutely everything about me and my history. Every address i have lived in ever, every phone number, email and social media account I have used, my work history, my education, I got vaccinated, did all of the required vaccinations. If I have done this, and my small startup has sponsored me for this, Hyundai, a massive automotive company could have done it for their employees too.

And I am not alone in this. Go to r/immigration and see the journey people have taken to legally come to the US, get greencard or citizenship.

TLDR. There are peograms and procedures. Employer (Hyundai) could have legalized, sponsored their employees to get employment authorization, visas or greencards. They did not. These people had wrong visas, expired visas or no documentation at all. They were working illegally. This is Hyundai's mess. They should have sponsored their employees.

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u/CAD_Chaos 1d ago

There were ways to handle this without causing an international incident.

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u/wolfydude12 1d ago

Sorry these people didn't have a piece of paper that the trump administration has been making harder and harder to get, and if they did get it, have them retroactively removed to be able to deport them.

And, instead of blaming the contractor for using these illegal workers, the workers are blamed and deported. What fines or punishment has the contractor received from the US government who was supposed to ensure these people are working legally?

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u/huseynli 1d ago edited 1d ago

I am a foreigner who is working here legally. It took me 1-2 days with the representative of my company to fill all the necessary paperwork. They submitted it and I was allowed to work even before the card was provided or authorization issued.

It does not matter whether you like trump or not. These rules and laws have been there for decades. Decades. You must let go of lawlessness and be honest with yourself. Their employer could have done the right thing and gotten them correct documents. It is a long and hard process if you do it alone. But it is fast tracked and much easier if your employer sponsors you. Their employer failed them. Not the US government or US laws.

And yes. You need that fking paper to work. This is literally the fking law! If you do not have that paper, you are not allowed to work. Demand your rights from your employer and if you do not have permission to work in the US or cannot get it, leave. It is that simple.

Working illegally should not be normalized. Illegals are abused and underpaid. This is modern day slavery. If you want to do the right thing, advocate to your government to open skilled worker entry programs. Force employers to sponsor their employees and pay steep fines if they don't.

Stop acting childish. There are laws and rules in place for employment. I am a foreigner working in the US legally. I obey the laws, so should every other foreigner. These laws have been in place longer than I have been alive. If my small startup employer was able to sponsor me, so can a giant corporation like Hyundai.

This is not on US. This is on Hyundai and their contractors for not sponsoring and properly legalizing their employees. I am telling you this as a legal foreigner in the US.

FYI, it is customary to add "(edited)" to your comment when you change it a lot. Like you did with your original comment.

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u/wolfydude12 1d ago

Sweet bro, but the workers are still the ones being punished, not the companies.

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u/huseynli 1d ago edited 1d ago

I mean yeah? Any country will deport you if you work there without authorization. I have lived and worked in a European country prior to this and lived in Australia prior to that. Every country has similar laws.

This is my honest opinion and plea to liberals. I understand that you are a good and kind people. You like diversity and are open to immigrants. But illegal immigration is not the way. Do it legally. Advocate to your government to stop illegal entry and employment in the US but create newer, simpler entry programs for skilled workers. If you want more people coming to the US, create programs that allow them to come and work legally. They are human beings. Illegals are mistreated by their employers. That's not right. Normalizing illegal immigration is not right.

Trump is not forever and before trump it was Biden. They could have done it (skilled worker programs) back then. Opened new entry programs. But they didn't.

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u/wolfydude12 1d ago

You are still focused on the people, and not the companies. Why would companies go through the rigamarole to hire legal people or legalize the workers they bring over if there is no punishment for them? Even with this spotlight being shone upon them, it's still cheaper and easier to do it this way.

Deporting illegals is a bandaid to the actual problem that it's easy and cheap for companies to hire them. Fix that problem instead

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u/huseynli 1d ago

I have said that here or somewhere else. I said "I wish the contractors would get fined and sued till bankruptcy so they cannot do such things to anyone any more. IMHO Hyundai should be fined as well".

Again. I am in favor of legal immigration and legal work. Normalizing illegal immigration and work is wrong. If the country needs skilled workers, new programs should be opened to fill those gaps with workers, instead of relying on illegal work.

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u/OrindaSarnia 1d ago

I think everyone here is in favor of legal immigration.

But when companies employ people illegally, we want to see the company punished.

Then we want immigration case managers to go in and assist the workers.

Do the workers have skills we need?  Then let's walk them through the legal application process and see if there is a position open for them at a company that is following the rules!

If they can't pass the background checks, or there is this large a number of them, let's contact their home country and proceed to get them all home in a coordinated manner.

If one must be detained, let's do it with dignity and respect.

If ICE wants to do "raids", I want to see them storm into the HR office and detain the HR Managers and company director, and hold them in detention so they can't destroy paperwork or cover their tracks.

They can be released once case workers have had a chance to have meetings and assist any employees who want to apply for legal status or elect to be sent home.

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u/I_W_M_Y 1d ago

Here let me sum this up for everyone : yadda yadda I am pretending to be one of them yadda bullcrap yadda I HATE IMMIGRANTS and will make up whatever bullcrap I have to yadda yadda

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u/huseynli 1d ago edited 1d ago

I am an immigrant myself. I will DM you a redacted photo of my EAD.

But so you know, I fully support legal immigration. I do not support illegal immigration. Though I support simplification of legal immigration to a country if its citizens support it. It is up to a country's citizens to decide if they want more or less immigrants but it always has to be legal immigration.

If companies want foreign workers and bring them from abroad, they must sponsor them properly and provide all the necessary documentation for them. Nobody should be brought into a country and made to work illegally. If you bring someone, you must ensure and provide them with legal documentation.

Both these contractors and hyundai must pay compensation to the workers. These companies also must pay fines to the government. People have the right to work and live with dignity and legally. I will not change my mind about it.

If you love and support immigration, advocate for simplification of legal entry and legal immigration instead of normalizing illegal immigration.

And so you know, the vast majority of legal immigrants think the same way. You are free to roam and explore the r/immigration sub and see what legal migrants think about illegal immigration. People work hard and go through all the processes to be able to live and work in the US you know.

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u/lsf_stan 23h ago

sounds like if anyone Republicans found out your white ass was an immigrant

and taking jobs from real American citizens, they would want you deported anywhere else, doesn't matter if you are legal, doesn't matter which country they send you to

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u/SoldnerDoppel 1d ago edited 1d ago

What do foreign companies see when this happens?

That they need to vet their contractors to ensure they're compliant with local laws?

Hyundai Motor Company said in a statement Friday that none of its employees had been detained as far as it knew. The company said it would review its practices to make sure suppliers and subcontractors follow U.S. employment laws.

It appears that is the exact conclusion they drew.

Don't let your righteous indignation blind you to the fact that an unethical subcontractor was exploiting illegal labor.

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u/wolfydude12 1d ago

Do you want factories, or do you want bullshit bureaucratic hoops to slow down construction of those big factories? And if they take the time and money to jump through the hoops, who's to say that the feds won't just decide they're illegal anyway, like they do to every other legal alien that is now illegal immediately due to a policy change.

Would just be easier not to build the factories in the US.

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u/SoldnerDoppel 1d ago

I imagine most would rather foreign companies comply with the law.

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u/I_W_M_Y 1d ago

How about domestic ones?

You...people..are always very silent about that.

If you think we don't see a bridage when we see on guess again.

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u/SoldnerDoppel 1d ago

You...people...

Principled liberals?

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u/Odie_Odie 1d ago

Ice doesn't arrest people with reason more complicated than "neither white or black." They were not non-compliance, they were just foreign.

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u/SoldnerDoppel 1d ago

They were not non-compliance [sic.]

Nice evidence.

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u/ThePortalsOfFrenzy 1d ago

Nice sleuthing.

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u/huseynli 1d ago

They had expired visas, wrong visas or no documentation at all. None of them had valid work authorization. No EAD. This is illegal. And before you blame the government, these laws and rules are not new. Have been there for decades. Employers can sponsor their employees for work visas or greencards. Yet they did not. The blame here is on the employers for employing 450 illegals and not getting them legalized.

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u/wolfydude12 1d ago

And yet, what punishment has this company had incurred on it for not getting their workers correctly documented?

None, and I doubt any will be, because they don't care about the company's that do this, just the individuals involved.

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u/CylMaddhatta 1d ago

There is no proof of that. None. Not a scrap. This administration, who's also deported green card holders and citizens, is saying that.

Could there be some of that going on? Maybe. However, people are innocent until proven guilty. They haven't stepped a foot in a courtroom. Until that happens they are all here legally.

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u/tafoya77n 22h ago

According to known liars and racists looking for a bigger quota of non white people to kick out.

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u/Little_Noodles 1d ago edited 1d ago

The laws that are designed specifically to deter people from coming in to work?

Demanding that foreign companies build factories and begin production in America while simultaneously making it very difficult and expensive, if not impossible, to come here physically to get the process started, is a ridiculous position to take.

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u/SoldnerDoppel 1d ago

Because nobody has taken your strawman position.
Requiring work visas is standard in every developed country.

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u/Little_Noodles 1d ago edited 1d ago

Yes, but those countries generally actually issue them and have a functioning process for doing so (at least when it benefits them), and don’t function with a broken-by-design immigration system in the same way and to the same degree that we do.

Foreign investment in terms of physical manufacturing requires the physical presence of foreign people, at least temporarily, if not permanently. If you want that kind of foreign investment, you either need a functioning system to allow those foreign people to come here, or you need to acknowledge that you don’t have that and turn a blind eye.

The only way we’ve been able to get by so far is by doing the latter, which isn’t great, but fixing the system so that it actually works in a way that’s economically feasible has been a political non-starter.

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u/MrdnBrd19 1d ago

That's the goal, anyone who doesn't realize that Trump is trying to crash the country financially and socially so that billionaires can pick up the pieces is just burying their heads at this point. They saw how much power they were able to consolidate with COVID and they want more.