South Korean authorities will send a chartered plane to the U.S. state of Atlanta as early as Wednesday to bring back workers detained in a massive immigration raid last week on a car battery plant in Georgia, a Korean Air spokesperson said on Tuesday.
President Lee Jae Myung said Seoul would negotiate with Washington to achieve a reasonable resolution to the situation based on the spirit of their alliance, adding at a Cabinet meeting that he felt a "heavy responsibility" for the detained nationals.
A Korean Air Boeing 747-8i plane with 368 seats will fly from South Korea's Incheon to Atlanta, according to the spokesperson. During the U.S. immigration raid, about 300 South Koreans were arrested along with 175 others at the site of the $4.3 billion Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution project to build batteries for electric cars.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun is in Washington to negotiate on points such as seeking assurances that the Koreans returned home will be allowed to reenter the U.S.
The raid – the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of the Department of Homeland Security's investigative operations – sent shockwaves through South Korea, a U.S. ally that has been trying to finalise a trade deal agreed with Washington in July.
A Realmeter opinion poll published on Tuesday showed that nearly 60% of South Koreans felt disappointed by the excessive action by U.S. authorities in the raid, while about 30% regarded the action as unavoidable.
Two Japanese nationals and up to nine Chinese citizens were among the detainees, the Nikkei business daily reported. James Rim, who heads the Korean-American Association of Southeast Georgia and runs guesthouses used by Korean workers near the Hyundai plant, said two of his residents had been detained after being found to be on a visa-waiver programme that prohibits employment in the country.
On Thursday evening, after the raid, they did not come back for dinner, Rim said, noting two other colleagues had made it back to the guesthouse after screening during the raid.
"I heard two of them saw an officer who didn't let them go, while the other two managed to leave after talking to another officer," said Rim.
Details on how U.S. immigration rules may have been breached have not been released by the authorities or companies involved, but South Korean lawmakers say some may have overstepped the boundaries of a 90-day visa-waiver program or a B-1 temporary business visa.
Foreign Minister Cho said he would discuss with Washington creating a special work permit for Korean professionals.
Korean businesses have complained about what they consider strict U.S. limits on visas for skilled foreign workers, making it difficult for them to oversee the construction of factories or to train the local workforce.
According to workers, officials and lawyers, many South Korean workers were sent to the U.S. on questionable documents despite their misgivings and warnings about stricter U.S. immigration enforcement.
After the raid, Rim said some of the 20 subcontractors working at the plant and also staying at his guesthouse had returned to South Korea early.
"Not everyone, but some of the workers came here on a visa waiver," Rim said, adding that this had long been a standard practice.
"It should have been done earlier, but I think now is a good chance to give some special work permits to Koreans. Otherwise, it would be difficult to build factories only with a local workforce," he said.
