US officers tied us up and pointed guns at us, South Korean engineers tell BBC

[Jilly_in_VA]

When Youngjin looked out of his office window and saw armoured trucks and immigration enforcement officers running around with guns, he was surprised, but not worried.

The young South Korean was certain it had nothing to do with him. He was in the US only for a few weeks on a short-term visa, he thought to himself.

Then the armed agents burst into his room and ordered him outside. They handcuffed him, before attaching chains to his waist and ankles, and loaded him onto a bus bound for a detention centre.

"I panicked and my mind went blank. I felt sick," he told the BBC, now back home in South Korea.

"I couldn't understand why I was being treated like this."

Youngjin is one of more than 300 Korean workers who were detained in the US state of Georgia earlier this month, in one of the largest immigration raids of Donald Trump's presidency to date. He and others interviewed for this article didn't want to reveal their real names in order to protect their identity.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c07v1j98ydvo

This is the way you treat your allies and people you want to help boost your economy? Fuck you, orange menace and ICE Barbie!

[Irish_Dem]

1. South Korea was the strongest Asian ally to the US.

This relationship has been severely damaged.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. ITA

[tanyev]

3. Gosh, and nobody took them up on the last-minute invitation to stay?

🤨

[progressoid]

4. South Korean businesses have suspended at least 22 U.S. projects after an ICE raid

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-ice-raids-just-cost-194434110.html

South Korean businesses have suspended at least 22 U.S. projects after an ICE raid on a Hyundai Motor factory site in Georgia detained hundreds of South Korean workers.

Some 475 employees, including 300 South Koreans, were taken into custody Thursday at the Savannah-area battery plant. Videos released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials showed the detained workers in shackles and chains. The raid shocked Seoul, a key U.S. ally, where people expressed a sense of betrayal by Washington.

The facility was part of a $4.3 billion joint venture that was slated for completion later this year. It was expected to create 8,500 jobs that would support the car company’s nearby electric vehicle plan, but construction on the factory was put on pause after the raid.

Work on at least 22 other factory sites with ties to South Korea has also been halted, reported The Korean Economic Daily. Those facilities are involved in industries related to automobiles, shipbuilding, steel, and electrical equipment.