Raid on Georgia Battery Factory Forces Koreans Into ‘Vacation’

At the beginning of this month, a large migration raid on a battery facility in Georgia continues to echo in the region with the delay of workers’ stay at home and delay assembly.

Ken Shim, president of Woowon Technology Inc., Hyundai Motor Co. and Korea’s Cartersville, near Georgia.

Shim, an American citizen who has been living in the United States for more than a decade, emphasizes that employees are legally working – there is a visa that allows limited business activities such as educating local recruitment and establishing equipment. However, Hyundai and LG Energy Solotion Ltd., workers and subcontractors in their facilities outside the Savannah city of Savannah thought that they comply with the laws on similar visas. However, on September 4, it was chained and detained by migration and customs enforcement officers.

Shim stopped going to work. Everyone is staying in their hotels or homes, ”Shim said in an interview. “I told my people-Don’t be a worker, take it as a week’s holiday. Go shopping, you work hard.”

SK advised some visa holders to avoid coming to US business sites until there was more clarity around their legal status. Walmart, a grocery chain specialized in Asian foods in Georgia, shows rumors of migrant agents in Hart. He understands his concerns and advised everyone to carry visa and passport documents with them.

SK did not respond to the request request. The White House and the Department of Internal Security did not respond to comments.

Korean battery manufacturers have invested in billions of US for the last few years as the electric vehicle industry has increased production with an explosion of an explosion. This business plan is tested after home sales lose steam and eliminating consumer tax loans that encourage the request of the Republicans.

The uncertainty of immigration contributed to the stress on its businesses. The workers’ discomfort in the Hyundai-Sk factory in Cartersville is the symbol of the country’s other factory floors. Hyundai accepted the construction of RAID set at least a few months on the site near Savannah due to the fears of the workers’ detention.

It’s not a small problem for the industry. South Korean firms are planning to build or build 22 plants in the USA, and companies are hinged to move projects rapidly throughout the international boundaries. There are at least four larger home battery plants that are seen as vulnerable to similar raids in the United States, because they still require talented technicians to services in temporary visas.

The legend started when the federal authorities entered the Hyundai-lg facility outside Savannah on September 4, and at least some of them were illegally in the USA. After diplomatic pressure, a group of custody flew home after a few days after South Korean.

Following the raid, President Donald Trump said that foreign companies investing in the US should be respected for immigration laws – one of the signature priorities, but at the same time, some private foreign workers admitted that it was necessary to educate Americans in complex products and machines.

The situation included Trump between duel priorities – immigration pressure and more foreign investment desire, which brought a business visa request. It is also the risk of fueling tensions between the US and South Korea; The two countries have reached an agreement to reduce tariffs and establish an investment fund financed by Korea, but not signed.

Honda Motor Co. LG, which built a battery facility in Ohio as a part of the joint venture, said that construction is progressing in other US plants, albeit without the help of foreign battery engineers whose visa status is Limbo.

LG North American President Bob Lee said at a conference in Detroit on Tuesday, “This is often managed and something should not cut our operations.” “We should try to find a plan that works independently of various scenarios, so he does it.”

Shim said that battery factories, such as the SK facility in Georgia, Trade, are less affected by visa confusion, because most of the local labor force, citizens and green card holders have already been trained about how complex battery production machines would be monitored. However, new plants that do not start production face delays. Because the locals have not yet been fully trained.

“We could not finish all training, and still the installation and teaching of machinery to optimize for production has not yet been completed,” he said. “They could have done it a little, but at this stage, not what they need to do.”

Located in Pyeongtaek, the main company, Wooowon Technology in South Korea produces, loads and service to install battery cells. In addition, a Ford Motor Co.-SS battery collaboration, which protects the blades to cut the battery electrodes, has invested in a 10,000 square meter workshop in Kentucky, near the joint venture.

The company said in a statement that he was concerned about the detention of workers despite the follow -up of the immigration law. “If such an uncertainty persists, it may adversely affect the willingness of Korean companies to invest and cooperate in US production,” he said.

When Shim first heard the raid at the Hyundai-LG factory, he said he was like the result of misunderstanding and assumed that he would be cleaned quickly.

Shim, “The first week, ‘This happens, but everything will be fine, this is America, we are all legal.” But maybe now, maybe not good. ”

“After this moment, the emotion we experience here in the US is completely different,” he said.

With the help of Josh Wingrove and Myles Miller.

This article was created from an automatic news agency feeding without changing the text.