Biz leaders in Georgia want South Korean workers back but visa challenges persist

Concerns are mounting in the United States over the aftermath of the detention of Korean workers at the construction site of Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution’s joint battery plant in Georgia, with state officials exploring ways to bring the Korean workers back to the state.

Key economic leaders in Georgia said on September 17 they are discussing measures to allow the Korean workers — who were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sept. 4, detained for a week and later returned to Korea — to return to the United States.

“You have sophisticated, talented South Koreans here installing battery equipment,” said Hugh “Trip” Tollison, president and CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Authority to local news outlet Savannah Morning News. “The frustration, and I feel it too, is that there’s no other entity in the world that has this proprietary technology that has to be installed by certain individuals. We are relying on South Korea.”

The authority is a private organization that partners with the Georgia state government to promote regional economic growth. Tollison said he and Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Pat Wilson met with Hyundai executives last week.

Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Tollison and the executive team from Hyundai Motor Company met last week in Detroit to discuss the raid. Tollision was in Nashville at the time of the ICE raid.

 

“They’re just as shocked and surprised,” said Tollison. “I was there with Pat Wilson to show support and let them know that we’re still there to get the project done. It was a good meeting. There are a lot of discussions about getting them back.”

Tollison said that the raid was “a minor setback” and that “the agreement is still intact.”

Still, observers note that returning may not be easy for the workers without proper safeguards in place, given the trauma of the incident. Many point to the need for systemic fixes, such as creating a new employment visa category — an E-4 visa — for Korean specialists.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp addressed the issue publicly for the first time on September 16 during a visit to an EV plant run by U.S. manufacturer Rivian, saying the United States needs to “comprehensively review its visa system.”

“That’s not a problem that was just for Hyundai, a lot of companies across the country have dealt with that,” said Kemp on September 16, according to local news outlet Atlanta News First. “I think there’s a lot of confusion about what really happened down there.”

On the same day, Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, echoed the call for visa reform.

“These are temporary workers who come here, they train up Americans, they bring unique expertise and knowledge to this state and we need a visa system that allows them to do their jobs,” said Clark at the Rivian event. “Because long term, Georgia workers benefit from that.”

The U.S. Congress is also taking the matter seriously. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) highlighted in a September 12 report that the detentions remain a challenge for Korea-U.S. relations.

“U.S. immigration enforcement operations on September 4 at ROK [Republic of Korea] automaker Hyundai’s manufacturing plant in Georgia have raised concerns in South Korea about the bilateral relationship, as well as questions over whether U.S. immigration policy may conflict with the U.S. objective for increasing U.S. manufacturing jobs through foreign investment,” said the report, calling South Korea by its official name, Republic of Korea.

The report referenced H.R.4687, also known as the Partner with Korea Act, introduced by Rep. Young Kim, a Republican of California. The bill would establish a new E-4 visa category exclusively for Koreans, with an annual quota of 15,000 high-skilled visas.