The detention of hundreds of South Korean workers at a battery plant in Georgia last week raises questions about how aggressively firms can invest in America when the Trump administration takes a harder line on visa paperwork.
The surprise immigration raid on Sept. 4 at the flagship joint venture between Hyundai Motor Co. and LG Energy Solution Ltd. left roughly 300 skilled engineers and subcontractors in custody. A few weeks earlier, US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held a summit to bolster their alliance and secure a trade deal, with a promise of hefty investment in the US.
Seoul pledged a $350 billion investment package in the US, a commitment now clouded by the prospect of visa disputes and tighter immigration scrutiny that could disrupt the flow of Korean labor critical to getting such projects off the ground.
What visas did the South Korean workers at the battery plant hold?
Most of the workers were in the US under a 90-day visa waiver program, commonly referred to as ESTA, or on B-1 visas, officials said. Building multibillion-dollar plants requires hundreds of foreign engineers and subcontractors, but companies such as Hyundai and LG have struggled to secure work visas under Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. Prolonged delays, especially for subcontractors, have made it harder to coordinate travel and carry out essential technical work on site, the people said.
What is a B-1 visa and what kind of activities does it allow or not allow?
The B-1 is a short-term, non-immigrant visa intended for business purposes such as attending meetings, conferences, contract negotiations, or conducting market research. In limited cases, it can also cover specialized tasks like supervising projects or installing equipment if those activities are explicitly outlined in a contract. It doesn’t permit direct labor, construction work, or employment by a US entity.
Why did this become a problem?
To bring in skilled staff more quickly, companies often turn to B-1 visas — or the visa-waiver program — as longer-term visas such as H-1B, L-1, or E-2 are more difficult to obtain and take months to process. Workers who perform tasks beyond the permissible scope of a B-1, such as technical or hands-on work, may be violating their status, exposing them to detention or removal. Workers considered to have undertaken unauthorized employment can also face multi-year re-entry bans and complications in securing future visas. The Korean government has said it is pressing through diplomatic channels Washington to minimize or waive penalties.
What’s happening to the detained workers now?
As many as 300 South Korean workers detained in the raid will be released on Sept. 10 and returned home on a chartered Korean Air Lines Co. flight. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry has been negotiating with US authorities for their swift release under “voluntary departure” arrangements. Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, who arrived in Washington on Tuesday, is scheduled to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House on Wednesday, where he’s expected to seek assurances that those departing won’t face re-entry bans if they want to return to the US in the future.
What is the significance of the battery plant?
The facility, officially known as HL-GA Battery Company LLC, is a 50:50 joint venture established by Hyundai and LG Energy in 2023. The firms committed about $4.3 billion to build a plant capable of producing 30 gigawatt hours of EV batteries annually, enough to power hundreds of thousands of vehicles.
The factory sits on the site of Hyundai’s new EV “Metaplant” in Georgia, and is designed as a critical link in the automaker’s supply chain in America: battery cells made there would be processed into battery packs by Hyundai Mobis Co., and then supplied to Hyundai and Kia for their US-built EVs. That makes the overall project one of the largest South Korean industrial investments in America.
How does this affect South Korea’s $350 billion investment in the US?
The raid risks casting a shadow over South Korea’s massive investment pledge. Companies may face project delays and added costs as they struggle to secure the visas needed to bring in skilled engineers and subcontractors. Heightened immigration scrutiny could also discourage firms from relying on Korean workers, even though those skills are critical for getting advanced battery and manufacturing plants operational.
Beyond the practical challenges, the incident may shake investor confidence in the stability of the US policy environment. The episode raises questions for companies about whether the political and regulatory risks outweigh the benefits. It also represents the biggest diplomatic setback for Lee since he took the helm in June, creating a complicated backdrop for an expected visit by Trump to South Korea around the end of October for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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