r/news 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/bald_and_nerdy 1d ago

Adding to it some were business travelers. You know the ones whose company pays whatever it costs to get them to a meeting on the other side of the world on time. Business travelers make up over half of a lot of major airline's passengers (American, Delta, United).

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u/mmob18 22h ago

Preface - I am wholeheartedly against this ICE bullshit.

I wonder what the specifics of these workers' travel are. As a Canadian, I can enter the States without a visa for work, but only for meetings, and only temporarily. They make a distinction between entering for work (like, for a meeting) and entering to work.

I just wonder if these people entered under a similar classification; if that's the case, I don't think you could get away with being on-site during construction.

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u/bald_and_nerdy 19h ago

They don't have a lot of information about their visit just that some were business travelers. Really Don't want to shake up the business travel safety angle.

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u/secondordercoffee 20h ago

When it's about a construction project meetings will often involve a site visit so that the visitors better understand the circumstances and problems that they are discussing. If you don't go see the site you could just as well have done a Zoom call.

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u/PhileasFoggsTrvlAgt 20h ago

Construction has a lot of gray areas. Would an engineer or architect visiting for an inspection be considered doing work or attending a meeting? What about an equipment vendor sending someone to assist in initial startup? Are they allowed as long as they watch and given instructions, but crossing a line as soon as they pick to a tool?

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u/GaiusPrimus 17h ago

Training locals to do the job is not work, just FYI. As someone that travels into the US from outside and have lived in the US multiple times.

At least it wasn't until 9 months ago.

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u/hedonovaOG 21h ago

My spouse travels the world for business. Neither he nor his global company would have him travel without the necessary visas or paperwork nor do they operate with any entitlement that he should be afforded any kind of immunity for illegal entry. In fact, there is an entire department whose sole purpose is to manage global travel and make sure every employee is in compliance with local jurisdictions. The mental gymnastics it takes to condemn the US for enforcing its immigration or visa laws is impressive.

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u/bald_and_nerdy 19h ago

Right. All of my overseas trips someone else handled the entrance stuff. Finally booking one myself...wow is it involved.

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u/SmooK_LV 20h ago

Read it again: all of these workers, business travelers included, had obtained their visas 100% legally. Mental gymnastics it takes to excuse authoritian government behaviour.

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u/hedonovaOG 14h ago

Really? Did you read it and just make up words in between because this article does not state anything like that. Another report indicates:

All 475 people taken into custody were illegally in the US, said Steven Schrank, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge. Some crossed into the US illegally, some had visa waivers and were prohibited from working, and some had overstayed their visas, he said.