Hankyoreh reports (translated from Korean to English by Google):

Their waists and hands were tied together, forcing them to bend down and lick water to drink. The unscreened bathrooms contained only a single sheet to cover their lower bodies. Sunlight barely penetrated through a fist-sized hole, and they were only allowed access to the small yard for two hours. Detained by US immigration authorities for eight days, the workers and their families expressed shock, describing human rights violations and absurdities they could not have imagined as ordinary Koreans living in 2025.

The 330 workers detained in a crackdown on illegal immigrants at a Hyundai-LG Energy Solutions joint battery plant in Georgia, USA, returned home on the 12th, and reports of human rights abuses they suffered during their detention are pouring in. Their testimonies from the 14th revealed a detention facility that violated all internationally recognized minimum standards for detainee treatment (Nelson Mandela Rules), including hygiene, communication with the outside world, the ability to raise objections, and the ability to explain the situation.

The arrest process itself was absurd. No one could properly understand the situation because there wasn’t even a basic explanation, such as a Miranda rights notice. Mr. Seo, a 40-year-old employee at an LG Energy Solutions subcontractor, said, “I didn’t even know I was under arrest. I thought it was a procedure to confirm my identity, but they asked me to sign some document.” The family of Mr. K (48), an employee at another subcontractor, said, “They said they saw the word ‘arrest’ on the document and whispered that they shouldn’t do it, but the agents were holding guns, so they ended up signing anyway.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, who confiscated personal belongings such as cell phones in ‘onion net’-like pockets, reportedly tied the workers’ arms and legs with chains, and when that wasn’t enough, they used ‘cable ties’ to restrain the workers.

Initially, the workers were herded into a 72-person temporary facility. According to one worker’s detention diary, reported by Yonhap News that day, bunk beds were lined up, and the bed mats were moldy. Even basic supplies like toothpaste, toothbrushes, and blankets appeared to have only arrived the day after their detention. To combat the cold, the workers wrapped themselves in towels to warm themselves. Many workers only moistened their lips with water, which smelled, and their only food during their detention was canned beans and toast. [Continue reading…]

Hankyoreh columnist, Park Hyun, writes:

To understand what’s at the core of this situation, we must revisit the “Make America Great Again” movement championed by US President Donald Trump. MAGA represents a reactionary movement by white evangelical forces seeking to revert America to a time before the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Its core supporters are low-income, poorly educated white Americans and evangelical Protestants. Trump has become a voice amplifying the anxieties of these groups, whose societal status has been shaken by job losses due to globalization, deepening economic polarization, and a surge in immigration. Trump has incited them to channel their anger toward the established elite and “outsiders,” such as people of color, undocumented immigrants, and Muslims.

Trump is fundamentally a populist and white supremacist. His slogan of “Make America Great Again” would be phrased more accurately as “Make White America Great Again.” His insistence on imposing a 50% tariff specifically on steel and aluminum stems from the fact that white, Protestant populations are concentrated in the American Rust Belt.

The massive crackdown on allegedly undocumented immigrants at the Hyundai-LG Energy Solution plant in Georgia must also be understood within this context. The sight of our workers being led out in chains resembles images of African slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries being dragged out by their owners. The Department of Homeland Security boasted that the raid was “the largest single-site enforcement operation in [its] history,” and Immigration and Customs Enforcement even brazenly released footage of the operation — which clearly risks human rights violations — as if to flaunt these arrests as their achievement.

Far-right white Americans may have rejoiced inwardly at this incident. Even politicians like the governor of Georgia and local lawmakers, who had previously been enthusiastic about hosting the factory, have abruptly changed their stance and joined the chorus of discontent. This shift is likely because it’s difficult to ignore the anti-immigrant sentiment among Americans born into citizenship. The US is in the grip of an irrational frenzy, reminiscent of the McCarthyism that swept through American society in the 1950s. The US could have resolved this visa issue diplomatically by giving Korea advance notice as an ally. Yet, the crackdown — complete with helicopters and armored vehicles, as if to gleefully flaunt their power — can only be explained as a political performance. [Continue reading…]