In a stunning turn of events that underscores the chaos surrounding U.S. immigration policy, Donald Trump personally offered hundreds of South Korean workers detained in a massive immigration raid the opportunity to stay in the country—and nearly every single one of them said no.
The raid, which unfolded last week at Hyundai’s $4.3 billion EV battery plant under construction in Georgia, resulted in the arrest of around 300 South Korean nationals and more than 150 others from various countries. The plant, one of the crown jewels of U.S.-South Korea industrial collaboration, has now become the unlikely epicenter of a diplomatic and political mess.
According to South Korean officials, Trump privately offered the workers a deal: remain in the U.S. to help train American staff. The offer was made quietly, behind the scenes, and even delayed a chartered flight meant to take them back to Seoul.
Only one worker accepted, according to Reuters.
TV footage from South Korean news outlets showed the remaining group—hundreds of them—boarding buses in the middle of the night, just past 2 a.m., en route to Atlanta’s airport. They had been held in a federal detention center surrounded by barbed wire. Unlike typical deportations, they weren’t shackled, a condition reportedly demanded by South Korea after what was already seen as an over-militarized response.
This raid was no low-profile operation. Armored vehicles and heavily armed federal agents descended on the Georgia site in a show of force that, for many South Koreans, looked more like a military operation than an immigration check.
The political fallout was immediate. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung didn’t mince words, saying the arrests had created “serious confusion” for Korean businesses operating in the U.S.
“Our businesses that are investing in the United States will no doubt be very hesitant,” Lee said at a press conference marking his first 100 days in office. Notably, he had just met with Trump at the White House ten days before the raid took place.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho-hyun confirmed that Washington and Seoul are now scrambling to discuss a new visa category that would let companies legally send technical specialists to the U.S.—a workaround for a system both governments now admit is broken. The current options, like the 90-day visa waiver and the short-term B-1 business visa, are too restrictive and too slow, critics say.
Some South Korean lawmakers acknowledged that a portion of the workers may have overstayed visas or entered on improper terms—but they were quick to point out that previous U.S. administrations had shown more flexibility when it came to strategic economic partnerships. After all, these weren’t underground workers in a shadow economy; they were engineers, technicians, and project managers building one of the largest EV battery facilities in the country.
And it wasn’t just South Koreans who were caught up in the sweep. China’s foreign ministry confirmed that a number of Chinese nationals were also detained. Beijing urged Washington to “ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the involved Chinese citizens.”
Meanwhile, a Guardian report citing leaked documents added a damning twist: at least one of the workers arrested by ICE was, in fact, in the U.S. legally.
The whole episode has left a sour taste—not just for the foreign governments involved, but for the workers who were detained, interrogated, and then offered a “deal” to stay, only to turn it down almost unanimously. It’s a stark rejection of Trump’s last-minute olive branch, and a powerful statement about trust—who earns it, and who doesn’t.
