The ice raid on the Hyundai factory in Georgia swept the workers on visitor visas

Officials say that many of the car workers who were arrested in a huge migration raid at the workplace have violated visitors’ visas.

The enforcement of immigration and customs (ICE) said 475 people, most of them citizens of South Korea – found that they were illegally working at the Hyundai battery factory in Georgia on Thursday.

“People are not allowed for short -term or recreational visas to work in the United States,” Ace said, adding that the raid was necessary to protect American jobs.

South Korea, whose companies promised to invest billions of dollars in the main American industries in the coming years, in part to avoid definitions, sent diplomats to Georgia, and called for respecting the rights of its citizens.

The workers detained at the ICE facility in Folkson, Georgia, were held until the agency decides the place of its movement after that.

Among the detainees, 300 were reported to be Korean citizens. Hyundai said in a statement that none of them were employed directly by the company.

LG Energy Solution, who runs the factory with Hyundai, told the BBC his priority to ensure the safety and welfare of its employees and partners and that it “will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities.”

In a statement on Friday, the Ice Office in the city of Safana said the raid “is part of the active and continuous criminal investigation.”

The statement added: “The individuals who were arrested during the operation were found illegally, in violation of the conditions of their visas and/or their conditions.”

But Charles Cook, the Immigration lawyer in Atlanta, told the New York Times that two of his clients had fallen into the raid.

He told the newspaper that the couple was in the United States under the visa -waiver program allowing them to travel for tourism or business for up to 90 days.

He said on Friday: “My client was doing exactly what allowed them to do the assignment of the visa – attending work meetings.”

He said that one of them arrived only on Tuesday and was scheduled to leave next week.

Ice said that one of the detainees was a Mexican citizen and a green card with a long rap paper.

The individual had previously been convicted of possession of drugs, in an attempt to sell a firearm and stolen theft, according to the ice.

“We welcome all companies that want to invest in the United States,” said Stephen Sherrank, National Security Undersecretary (HSI).

And if they need to bring workers to build or other projects, there is nothing wrong – but they need to do so in the legal way.

“This process sends a clear message that those who take advantage of the system and undermine our workforce will be held accountable.”

The South Korea Foreign Ministry responded to the raid with a statement that he said: “The economic activities of Korean investment companies and the rights of Korean citizens and their interests should not be violated during the American law enforcement.”

The raid raises a possible tension between two priorities of President Donald Trump – manufacturing in the United States and breaking illegal immigration. It can put pressure on the country’s relationship with a major ally.

President Trump said at the Oval Office on Friday: “They were illegal foreigners and the ice was doing it,” President Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday.

In response to a question by a reporter about Seoul’s reaction, he said: “Well, we want to agree with other countries, and we want to have a wonderful and stable workforce.

“We have, as I understand it, many illegal foreigners, and some are not the best people, but we had many illegal foreigners who work there.”

Trump has worked to bring in large investments from other countries while imposing fees on definitions that he will give manufacturers incentives to create goods in the United States.

The President also carried out strict measures to illegal immigration, and the supporters told that he believed that the immigrants were stealing jobs from Americans.

The factory, which manufactures new electric cars, was described by the Republican Governor in Georgia as the largest economic development project in the state’s history, with a need of 1,200 people.