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Hyundai has a history of lax law interpretations. See child labor issues in 2022. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-hyundai/

Hyundai has a history of lax law interpretations. See child labor issues in 2022. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-hyundai/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immi... It wouldn’t surprise me if they were overly aggressive in what they used visas for. It’s also possible they hired a low quality firm to do their visas (some of the big 5s subcontract to some terrible sub tiers) and they simply did the paperwork wrong. Similar situation have happened to my coworkers when going on foreign assignment.

notahacker 1y ago
ICE doesn't have the strongest record when it comes to paperwork either. It's possible Hyundai screwed up (and the slap on the wrist they got in 2022 isn't much of a deterrent), but it's also possible that ICE responded to someone suggesting Hyundai might have illegals amongst its workforce by indiscriminately detaining all foreign nationals there...
AnotherGoodName 1y ago
The ESTA VISA waiver which is the easiest form of entry to the USA for close allies like South Korea explicitly allows business activities. The idea is that it's meant to be easy to come to the USA for consultation, conferences, trade shows etc. The most basic VISA for countries like South Korea explicitly enables this. If they came to the USA legally it's hard to understand how they didn't have the right to do things like consult on the build-out of the new factory. If anyone wants to argue the ESTA doesn't allow this (despite the explicit wording that it does) you're basically saying no more international business conferences and no more business trips to USA offices without a very heavy weight multiyear immigration process. Which is fine if you want to come out and suggest that. It'll kill what's left of Vegas, the airlines, conference centers, etc. It would also harm any international business in the USA but if you really really want to go around saying "ICE are right to detain the South Koreans here" I'm OK with that. I'll make sure that people from my home country understand that the USA is completely closed for business.
- 29athrowaway 1y ago
  Visa is not an acronym.
- runako 1y ago
  > no more international business conferences As an American, I can't imagine why anyone would risk coming here for a conference unless it was truly make-or-break. A clerical error in your visa could land you in jail indefinitely in Somalia. The risk/reward is way off.
Telemakhos 1y ago
The factory was still under construction. I suspect that a (legally entered) South Korean management team hired local subcontractors without understanding the oversight that would be required, and the subcontractors hired (non-Korean) undocumented aliens as often happens in construction. Whistleblowers and local reporting [0] indicate lax safety standards in the construction of the plant, with three dead by May. OSHA has opened at least fifteen investigations into the construction site [1]. The latest story on OSHA investigations is dated today [2], and it mentions that OSHA did not receive reports of several accidents. That might well be because some of the injured were undocumented workers. That recent report mentions Glovis EV Logistics America by name and two unidentified subcontractors as targets of the OSHA investigation. I would not be at all surprised if OSHA didn't have ICE raid this place to shut it down before more people got hurt. [0] https://www.wjcl.com/article/hyundai-bryan-county-construction-worker-death-2/43784723 https://www.wjcl.com/article/hyundai-bryan-county-constructi... [1] https://www.enr.com/articles/60802-third-fatality-recorded-at-hyundais-76b-metaplant-in-georgia https://www.enr.com/articles/60802-third-fatality-recorded-a... [2] https://www.gpb.org/news/2024/09/05/osha-investigating-one-hyundai-affiliate-in-georgia https://www.gpb.org/news/2024/09/05/osha-investigating-one-h...

notahacker 1y ago

ICE doesn't have the strongest record when it comes to paperwork either. It's possible Hyundai screwed up (and the slap on the wrist they got in 2022 isn't much of a deterrent), but it's also possible that ICE responded to someone suggesting Hyundai might have illegals amongst its workforce by indiscriminately detaining all foreign nationals there...

AnotherGoodName 1y ago

The ESTA VISA waiver which is the easiest form of entry to the USA for close allies like South Korea explicitly allows business activities. The idea is that it's meant to be easy to come to the USA for consultation, conferences, trade shows etc. The most basic VISA for countries like South Korea explicitly enables this. If they came to the USA legally it's hard to understand how they didn't have the right to do things like consult on the build-out of the new factory. If anyone wants to argue the ESTA doesn't allow this (despite the explicit wording that it does) you're basically saying no more international business conferences and no more business trips to USA offices without a very heavy weight multiyear immigration process. Which is fine if you want to come out and suggest that. It'll kill what's left of Vegas, the airlines, conference centers, etc. It would also harm any international business in the USA but if you really really want to go around saying "ICE are right to detain the South Koreans here" I'm OK with that. I'll make sure that people from my home country understand that the USA is completely closed for business.

29athrowaway 1y ago
Visa is not an acronym.
runako 1y ago
> no more international business conferences As an American, I can't imagine why anyone would risk coming here for a conference unless it was truly make-or-break. A clerical error in your visa could land you in jail indefinitely in Somalia. The risk/reward is way off.

Telemakhos 1y ago

The factory was still under construction. I suspect that a (legally entered) South Korean management team hired local subcontractors without understanding the oversight that would be required, and the subcontractors hired (non-Korean) undocumented aliens as often happens in construction. Whistleblowers and local reporting [0] indicate lax safety standards in the construction of the plant, with three dead by May. OSHA has opened at least fifteen investigations into the construction site [1]. The latest story on OSHA investigations is dated today [2], and it mentions that OSHA did not receive reports of several accidents. That might well be because some of the injured were undocumented workers. That recent report mentions Glovis EV Logistics America by name and two unidentified subcontractors as targets of the OSHA investigation. I would not be at all surprised if OSHA didn't have ICE raid this place to shut it down before more people got hurt. [0] https://www.wjcl.com/article/hyundai-bryan-county-construction-worker-death-2/43784723 https://www.wjcl.com/article/hyundai-bryan-county-constructi... [1] https://www.enr.com/articles/60802-third-fatality-recorded-at-hyundais-76b-metaplant-in-georgia https://www.enr.com/articles/60802-third-fatality-recorded-a... [2] https://www.gpb.org/news/2024/09/05/osha-investigating-one-hyundai-affiliate-in-georgia https://www.gpb.org/news/2024/09/05/osha-investigating-one-h...