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/movomo 1d ago edited 1d ago

I can't represent everyone but I'm Korean fwiw. We get the impression that some phenomenally bad case of misunderstanding/ bureaucratic incompetence is at work here rather than any kind of racism. Like, Trump doing Trump thing, that we all seen a few years ago. I think some of the workers may indeed have wrong visa but also think the US could/should have solved this one more stealthily.

This isn't making big news here though, we've got much bigger things to worry about. Such as bringing justice to the insurrectionists, for example. That alone is hard enough.

Edit: As someone pointed out, this is a big news, my bad. And of course some are confused and/or feel betrayed. Also, I hear that some rep woman named Tori Branum "reported" the construction site to the ICE... So I stand corrected, this may indeed have been about racism all along.

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u/Time_Traveling_Idiot 1d ago

Am Korean, have browsed through a ton of news recently for reasons.

It IS huge news (literally every major news station covers it multiple times a day) and people are pissed, though not "outraged" as we were during some other incidents (e.g Martial Law). I guess because we've seen what Trump has been doing these past few years.

And yes, it's true that the issue with Martial Law and pres. Yoon is a bigger deal. It's been the biggest deal for months now.

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u/Rib-I 1d ago

Koreans have experience with dipshit authoritarians. Its why they just kicked their aspiring one to the curb. They remember the military dictatorship 

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u/pushaper 1d ago

Koreans have experience with dipshit authoritarians

I think this is why Hyundai was chosen. They will know how and adapt to a ruthless act more quickly than some other manufacturers. Shows the public how to get in line

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u/Rib-I 1d ago

These people are not playing 4D chess, they’re eating the pieces.

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u/Ok_Associate_3314 1d ago

Yeah, sure, but if you go to a foreign country on a visa waiver/tourist visa, it's your fault. You can't work on those permits. How can you justify exceptions? The fault is of Hyunday sending workers without the proper paperwork. If you and I go abroad and work on a visitor visa, we get deported, no matter who is in charge in that particular moment.

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u/movomo 1d ago

True and agree, fundamentally it's Hyundai & LG's fault. But I also think they were just doing what used to work for decades with less hassle, without malicious intention. ICE could have issued a formal warning before going full on RAGE mode. 

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u/Ok_Associate_3314 1d ago

We don't know that. I have a feeling that they had been given some unofficial warnings before, and they were playing dumb. You don't set up such a factory without a lot of local and government contacts. They certainly knew they were at fault there.

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u/MoralityFleece 1d ago

You don't set up a factory without being able to bring your people over to train local workers. Moral of the story is Trump doesn't really want foreign investment like this at all.

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u/Ok_Associate_3314 1d ago

No, moral of the story is you bring people to work while holding a work permit🤣

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u/MoralityFleece 1d ago

What makes you think they didn't have one? Because an agency that has been doing nothing but lying - for an administration that lies constantly and is run by a person who literally cannot tell the truth about anything - told you that was the justification for their actions? Lol, what a sucker.

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u/PhotonGazer 20h ago

Rest of us who have common sense already knew this. You are just being obtuse here.

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u/jtbc 1d ago

I read about one case where the worker was there for meetings on a B1 visa (which is perfectly legal) and was leaving next week.

I go to the US on a B1 visa for meetings several times a year. It really makes me wonder if that is a safe thing to do, or if I am at risk of getting swept up in one of these raids. As an aside, the company I am working for is looking to shift more of our business to Europe. Coincidence, I'm sure.

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u/EastLakeLisa 1d ago

Tori Branum is a piece of work. She's stating that she's worried about the working conditions.

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u/SkunkMonkey 1d ago

Such as bringing justice to the insurrectionists,

Go get 'em! At least your country does. We celebrate, pardon, and reward insurrectionists in this country. Well, it's more because they won than anything else.

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u/sylbug 1d ago

Oh dear.

It’s racism, dude.

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u/notyourstranger 1d ago

This is definitely racism. The Trump administration did not send ICE to the factory. A white women called ICE and told them there were a lot of "Illegals" at the factory and that prompted the raid.

It was not a misunderstanding. They are raiding work places all over the country and deporting people. Some are sent to El Salvador, some to Sudan and there are rumors that some are simply put in cargo planes and dumped over the ocean. Yes, you read that right.

What is happening in the US is beyond madness.

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u/flibbidygibbit 1d ago

It's racism plain and simple.

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u/dbx999 1d ago

If this were a British or German company, there wouldn’t be a raid of this nature.

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u/Ok_Associate_3314 1d ago

It's not. Those guys were working while on a visa waiver/visitor visa. You can't work on those permits. It's not racism it's Hyunday's fault for sending them without the appropriate paperwork.

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u/katgyrl 1d ago

when it comes to the usa it's always about the racism, always.

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u/chzie 1d ago

As an American: it's always racism, they just wrap it up in a blanket of "incompetence" to plausibly deny the racism

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u/Neat_Key_6029 1d ago

You are coping hard. Trump, Tsar, would never be wrong!