Atlanta – Buses with workers South Korea Those detained in an immigration raid at a fort factory last week headed to Atlanta from a detention center in southeastern Georgia, where a rental plane was waiting to take them home.
On the campus of a sprawling Hyundai car factory in western Savannah last week, one of about 475 Koreans were detained. South Korea The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said South Korea’s Boeing 747-8i, which arrived in Atlanta at noon Wednesday, will depart at noon Thursday, with workers joining.
The workers were held at an immigration detention center in Foxton, 285 miles (460 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta. South Korea U.S. authorities have released 330 detainees — 316 of them South Koreans — who were driven by bus to Hutsfield — Jackson Atlanta International Airport South Korea On Friday afternoon. The organization also includes 10 Chinese nationals, 3 Japanese nationals and an Indonesian.
South Korea President Lee Jae Myung called on Thursday to improve the U.S. visa system, saying South Korean companies may hesitate to make new investments in the U.S. until that happens.
South Korean and U.S. officials have held a round-trip discussion on whether detainees must be handcuffed when they take buses to Atlanta, which is “strongly objected” by South Koreans. He said there was also debate on whether they would “voluntarily leave” or deported.
While these discussions were ongoing, U.S. officials began to return to the detainee’s property. But, Lee said, “Everything stopped suddenly,” he added that they were told it was due to White House instructions.
“President Trump directed (detainees) to be allowed to go home freely, and those who do not want to go do not have to do so,” he said. “We were told that due to this instruction, the process was suspended and administrative procedures were changed accordingly.”
South Korean Foreign Ministry official discusses the conditions of the diplomatic process without anonymity, saying Trump has stopped the process South Korea Regarding whether North Koreans should be allowed to continue working and help train our workers, or should be sent back South Korea.
Lee said at a press conference that the United States gives detainees a choice between staying and going home. In the end, a South Korean national with relatives in the United States chose to stay, Lee said.
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Kim Tong-Hyung reported on Seoul.
