South Korean workers held in US immigration crackdown head for home

South Korean workers who were detained in the United States during a major immigrant raid in a Hyundai factory in Georgia will fly home on Wednesday.

According to the Reuters News Agency, a rented aircraft will leave the US on Wednesday at about 14:30 (18:30 GMT).

South Korean television showed a charter plane from Incheon International Airport on Wednesday morning. It is reported that he will return to South Korea with workers detained on Thursday.

BBC contacted the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a comment.

This is the way US Secretary of State Marco Rubio should meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun at the White House on Wednesday morning.

Before going to Washington on Monday, Cho said he would work with the US to prevent the repetition of the incident.

Last week, US officials detained 475 people who said they were illegally working in the Battery facility, one of the largest foreign investment projects in the state, as more than 300 South Korean citizens.

A worker in the facility spoke to the BBC about panic and confusion during the raid. The employee said that the majority of the workers who were detained are mechanics that set up production lines on the field and that they were employed by a contractor.

South Korea, a close ally in Asia, promised to invest tens of billions of dollars in America to balance tariffs.

As the two governments participated in sensitive trade negotiations, the schedule of pressure caused concern in Seoul.

The White House defended the operation at the Hyundai factory and rejected the concerns that the pressure could deterd the foreign investment.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump referred to the raid in a social media mission and asked foreign companies to hire Americans.

Trump said that if the US government respects foreign firms to bring workers to the country if they respect immigration laws, it would provide “fast and legally possible”.