¡ø On September 4, local time, U.S. immigration law enforcement officers launched a large-scale law enforcement operation at a Hyundai Motor factory. According to vision china

On September 4, local time, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out a massive assault inspection at a modern car-LG battery factory in Georgia, arresting 475 people, of whom more than 300 were Korean nationals.

Although the South Korean government actively intervened to resolve the case and eventually took the arrested workers back to the country by charter aircraft, South Korean President Li Keqiang acknowledged that the incident had a bad impact, ¡°letting many people question whether South Korea should continue to invest in the United States¡±. on September 15, the South Korean government announced an investigation into the arrest of South Korean workers, focusing on examining whether there were human rights violations by U.S. law enforcement authorities, and the South Korean workers who were returned to the country also exposed a variety of astonishing details.

Hands tied, drinking water by licking.

Detention conditions are like "animals"

A person present said, "A large number of US federal agents suddenly poured in, all armed with live ammunition, just like being on the battlefield. The scene scared me." According to the workers' news, 70 or 80 of them were temporarily detained in a very narrow place, with only 2 hours of "wind time" every day, and the space that could get in the sun was only "half the size of a basketball court". Some workers couldn't stand the "animal-like" detention conditions and tried to escape from the sewage pool, but were caught back.

On September 12, South Korean workers detained last week in the U.S. immigration assault inspection arrived at Incheon International Airport.

According to the testimony of several parties to the South Korean government, detention agencies have completely deviated from the minimum treatment standards for detainees stipulated by the international community in terms of health, external contacts, adoption of objections, and information on the situation.

It is reported that the arrest scene didn't even have the most basic instructions including "Miranda Warning", and the workers didn't know the situation. Xu, an employee in his forties, said: "At that time, I didn't know that I was being arrested. I thought it was for identity confirmation. They asked us to sign some documents." The outsourcing employee of another cooperative enterprise recalled: "I saw the words' arrest 'on the document, and whispered whether it couldn't be signed, but the staff was present with guns, so I had to sign it first". After ICE law enforcement officers put mobile phones and other personal belongings into woven bags and took them away, they first tied the hands and feet of workers with iron chains. Later, even the iron chains were not enough, so they switched to plastic cable ties.

On September 4, several U.S. federal agencies jointly conducted an assault inspection at a modern car factory in South Korea, Georgia.

A laborer wrote in his "detention diary" that bunk beds were arranged side by side in the crowded room, and the mattresses were moldy. Basic supplies such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and blankets are also not distributed until the next day. To resist the chill, everyone had to wrap themselves in towels to keep warm. Drinking water gives off peculiar smell, and many people can only moisten their lips slightly. During the whole detention, the "food" provided was basically canned beans and toast.

Zhao Yingji (44), a cooperative worker, said that the biggest problem is that the bathroom shared with others is "completely open", with only a piece of cloth hanging to cover the lower body. "In meeting basic physiological needs, there is especially a lack of minimum human rights protection. It is impossible to go to the toilet in such an open bathroom." In addition, many people have their hands tied to their waist, and if they want to drink water, they can only lower their heads and lick the water in the bowl.

South Koreans are angry:

Why treat your allies this way?

According to ICE itself, the raid against the modern car-LG battery factory was the agency's history's "biggest single-site raid" aimed at mass capture of illegal immigrants. However, ICE also acknowledged that the arrested Korean workers had basically all legitimate identities to come to the United States, but some people's visa category was slightly flawed. It is worth noting that the attack occurred 11 days after Trump and Lee met in Lee.

¡ø On August 25th, Lee Jae-myung (left) and Trump shook hands after talks in the Oval Office of the White House. According to vision china

The modern car-LG battery factory, which invests $800 million, is the largest investment project in South Korea's history in the United States and is proudly called the state's "economic pillar project" by the governor of Georgia. According to the plan, the factory will eventually employ 8,500 people directly in Georgia and directly affect the fate of more than 20 suppliers, equivalent to indirectly affecting hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs.

According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry data, since the beginning of Trump¡¯s current term, the department has been actively linked to the United States 52 times to negotiate the issue of South Korean tech workers visa to the United States, but received few responses. Washington Stinson Center South Korea Project Director Jenny Tonn said: ¡°The longer this situation lasts, the less likely South Korean companies will be willing to bring employees to the United States. The Trump administration has been lobbying other countries to invest in the United States, but this is entirely self-destruction.¡±

Thun believes that the incident has put a lot of pressure on Lee in Ming, leaving him less and less space to deal with international relations issues. Lee in Ming himself also acknowledged that he was questioned and pressured, and said that the raid made South Korean companies "very confused and many questioned whether they should continue to invest in the United States."

Among the Korean people, the response caused by this incident is unprecedentedly consistent. "Is this how (the United States) treats its allies?" "Such behavior has brought major setbacks to alliance relations" and other discussions have continued.

The South Korean Foreign Minister expressed "regret and concern" about the case, saying that the conduct of the U.S. could be "violating human rights."At present, the South Korean government has launched a formal investigation procedure and actively gathered workers' testimonies to prepare for future diplomatic activities.

Red Star News reporter Zheng Zhi comprehensive CCTV news, etc.

Edited by Guo