Having working in US immigration, most reporting on immigration issues leaves a lot to be desired.
Because of the poor reporting, it's not possible to say for sure what happened, but it sounds like Hyundai/LG/subcontractors brought in hundreds of South Koreans on B visas and had them engaging in productive work. That's not what B visas are for. B visas are for meetings, sales, and maybe some light training/setup/integration. When the CEO talks about needing specialized, skilled workers, that's a strong suggestion these workers should have been on L visas.
Unfortunately the same article doesn't even mention the L visa, and cites an immigration lawyer who complains about the difficulty of getting H-1B visas. But L visas are not capped like H-1Bs. In India we approved thousands of L visas specifically for skilled workers to assist with bringing plants/equipment online.
In short, the B visa is not a work visa. Most countries worldwide are quite restrictive about the conditions surrounding work visas, and people who violate the conditions of their visa shouldn't be surprised when there are consequences. Having a valid visa but violating its conditions means you are violating immigration law.
Corporate immigration departments can and do cut corners and may have thought they would save money and time by sending foreign workers on B visas (which they might have already had) or on the visa waiver program. L visa holders don't even have to get paid US-level wages, so one take on the visa type is that it is already a way for companies to undercut US labor.
pupppet · 1h ago
What are people in South Korea thinking of this? Can’t imagine seeing citizens of my country getting hauled away in chains.
c420 · 36m ago
South Korea outraged at 300 workers treated as ‘prisoners of war’ in US raid
Probably "if I work in a foreign country I should probably have the proper work visa". Though, I blame management not the workers - I suspect many were not aware.
And for the downvoters, try going and working in a foreign country without the proper paperwork and see how it pans out (and how the locals feel about it)...
triceratops · 1h ago
> Probably "if I work in a foreign country I should probably have the proper work visa"
Which one would that be in this case?
lovich · 1h ago
I bet they’re thinking more “so you blackmailed us into investing in you, and you arrest our people who are there making that investment happen”
I cannot honestly believe that you think any group of people on earth would look at this situation and then think that they should have just followed the rules better.
The South Korean government is already saying that the US needs to fix its visa program if it wants the investment[1]
Any rational group of people would look and say "they should follow the local laws". And one that practically all civilized countries have, including SK. And yeah, the visa program is problematic - but that is not a green light for breaking the law.
lovich · 51m ago
Any rational group of people would look at the government demanding investment but not making the process the same government administers for visas viable for the time frames the government is demanding, and be pissed at the government in question.
This wasn’t in a vacuum done solely for Hyundais profit. The government that did this raid is currently threatening every other country that doesn’t invest in the US _now_ with tariffs and sanctions.
I’m actually trying to understand your point here because what you’re describing to me seems as crazy as a seeing a mugger be pissed that the muggee wasn’t polite enough during the encounter
gwbas1c · 1h ago
They were. Other news reports indicated that some tried to hide in sewer ponds.
Some of the workers were on tourist visas.
It's very disappointing. I just bought an Ioniq 9 and it's a great car. I'm really bothered, at both sides, (US and Hundai/LG), for letting the situation get like this.
cpursley · 1h ago
Hyundai and management (both sides) should have to pay some large fines for sure. I bet some locals were in on it, too.
cpursley · 1h ago
Here's an AI overview of working illegally in SK btw:
> Working illegally in South Korea can result in deportation, a fine of up to 30 million KRW (approximately US$22,000), and a ban on re-entry for up to five years. Employers who hire illegal foreign workers also face significant penalties, including fines of up to 20 million KRW (around US$15,000) and/or imprisonment.
jleyank · 1h ago
I would think it unrealistic for a country to make a foreign investment of magnitude that doesn’t favour their citizens. The government wont survive long if its people think it’s just giving lots of money to foreigners.
Immigrants are our biggest job creators founding >50% of our unicorns. We’re pooping on what makes America great. There’s no logic or reasoning anymore though, just hate.
givemeethekeys · 1h ago
I was not aware of the Hyundai factory workers immigrating to the US. I thought they were brought by Hyundai temporarily and on the wrong visa to help build that factory faster.
andyjohnson0 · 1h ago
Unfortunately a lot of people in the US voted for this. They want to see people who are "other" treated harshly and cruely. Trump is giving them what they want.
more_corn · 1h ago
I’m not sure this is precisely what people voted for.
sugarpimpdorsey · 1h ago
Straw man fallacy. No one is deporting legal immigrant founders. The White House just hosted two dozen of them for dinner - more than half of those in attendance were Indian or Asian.
rootusrootus · 1h ago
Sure, as soon as you have become wildly successful and critical to the business interests of the US, we can overlook everything that came before that moment.
ungreased0675 · 1h ago
It’s not immigrants, it’s unchecked, undocumented, unvetted immigration that most people (including a majority of immigrants) are opposed to.
garciasn · 1h ago
Some polls state otherwise, with many pointing to disillusionment with the methods and likely incarceration and deportation of immigrants that were potentially targeted improperly by the administration as a way to appear tough on immigration to achieve their goals. The net-net of these actions will leave the economy weaker and cause a net loss of population earlier than expected according to the CBO.
I think rhetoric around immigration is functionally a Motte and Bailey game. Many of our most productive immigrants play visa games, overstaying, working on non-working visas, etc. in fact it takes a sort of grit, daring, and entrepreneurship to play fast and loose with bloated inefficient government regulation (such as our immigration system). It is obviously easy to declare “well, my intentions were to always target just the worst ideal of immigrant” while ignoring the reality of how much immigrants— yes, even the unchecked, undocumented, unvetted ones— benefit the country as a whole…
Starman_Jones · 1h ago
Do you feel that the arrests at the Hyundai plant effectively countered unchecked, unvetted immigration?
stetrain · 1h ago
Perhaps, but a lot of the recent immigration enforcement pushes haven't been about fully undocumented immigrants.
dotnet00 · 1h ago
That was the PR line used to trick immigrants into initially supporting the cause, it's become pretty obvious with the sheer glee on social media over all immigrants being harassed and open questioning of the immigration status of anyone they don't like (see: NYC mayoral candidate Mamdani), that it's actually just about not liking anyone who doesn't look like themselves.
hobs · 1h ago
Well, that's not what we have today. ICE making so many arrests at immigration court for people who showed up after they pressure the judges to dismiss the case. People with papers, married parents, and people who have been here decades are being grabbed because they are easy to get for the current administration.
alephnerd · 2h ago
I mean, Hyundai did play it fast and loose with B1/2 visas and the VWP [0] - which are NOT meant to be used for construction.
If HN detests H1B abuse by consultancies like TCS, then calling out B1/2 and VWP visa abuse by Korean manufacturing firms should be acceptable as well, otherwise it's just white collar hypocrisy.
This factory has had multiple deaths in the past two years due to labor abuse and shoddy safety standards [1][2][3], but kept getting pushed back by political pressure. Given the size of the raid, someone at OSHA most likely gave an "anonymous" tip [4].
91 ambulance calls were made at this factory site over 20 months [5] - well above the average for similar sites [6].
TSMC attempted something similar when spinning up the Chandler fab, but the Biden admin stuck to their guns and pushed back on TSMC.
I can assure you, if OSHA raided Hyundai's plant and even arrested managers for unsafe practices, the majority of Koreans would've been like "Yeah fuck Hyundai, serves them right, go America!"
But that's not what happened. And the message seems pretty clear: don't come to the US to work, unless you fancy being treated like a busted drug dealer.
You can't do that and then claim it was about workplace safety. Well, I mean, I guess you can, but the factory workers and investors aren't going to believe you.
flerchin · 1h ago
Koreans know about work visa rules and immigration status. ADOR reported Hanni as an illegal immigrant when they were having contract disputes with New Jeans due to the whole Min Hee Jin fiasco.
I realize that's kinda dense, but you can google it up yourself. Koreans well understand this type of thing.
yongjik · 1h ago
Koreans also have the concept of punishment being proportional to offense. You tell Koreans an illegal immigrant worker in Korea was rounded up in chains and stuck in places where they have to take a dump in front of others, at least half of Koreans would say "What the fuck? We are supposed to be better than that!"
Now tell them it wasn't just an ordinary illegal immigrant worker, but a group of, let's say, BMW employees from Germany, building a new car factory in (some Korean city), but apparently they had the wrong visa.
Koreans would say "Have we completely lost our goddamn mind?"
alephnerd · 53m ago
> OSHA raided Hyundai's plant
They have - multiple times, both under Biden and Trump, as the sources I gave have mentioned. Heck, The Guardian in strongly opposed to the Trump admin and pointed this out too.
> But that's not what happened
That is what happened. The issue was Hyundai would spin up yet another contracting firm.
emorning4 · 1h ago
Having masked men with guns and body armor shackle and kidnap workers is not 'calling out visa abuse'.
alephnerd · 13m ago
The Korean government does the exact same thing as ICE, and continues to ignore the Korean constitutional court's ruling on indefinite detention [0][1]
Are there US workers who should have been hired to do this factory-bootstrapping instead? Because that’s what the H1B stuff (and most illegal immigrant-worker debate in general) has been about, and otherwise it’s only superficially similar.
AFAIK H1Bs follow the letter of the law and calls are for reform to make visas stricter / reduce the kinds of visas, which is basically the opposite of what I’m seeing here.
alephnerd · 28m ago
> Are there US workers who should have been hired to do this factory-bootstrapping instead
Yes. Of these companies [0], Hyundai-LG has been the only malcontent
I don't think "HN" detests anything. Some commenters might, though.
typpilol · 1h ago
Well put.
You can't complain about it in your industry and get mad when people do it about theirs...
JCM9 · 1h ago
Like most Americans I’m pro immigration, but I’m also pro enforcing our laws. The company couldn’t follow the law and got caught. End of story.
grugagag · 1h ago
Im sure there’s an official way to tackle this problem in a less violent manner. Approving of this type of violent operation is a disgraceful and low thing to do.
Because of the poor reporting, it's not possible to say for sure what happened, but it sounds like Hyundai/LG/subcontractors brought in hundreds of South Koreans on B visas and had them engaging in productive work. That's not what B visas are for. B visas are for meetings, sales, and maybe some light training/setup/integration. When the CEO talks about needing specialized, skilled workers, that's a strong suggestion these workers should have been on L visas.
Times reporting confirmed a few of the workers were on B visas: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/12/business/economy/hyundai-...
Unfortunately the same article doesn't even mention the L visa, and cites an immigration lawyer who complains about the difficulty of getting H-1B visas. But L visas are not capped like H-1Bs. In India we approved thousands of L visas specifically for skilled workers to assist with bringing plants/equipment online.
In short, the B visa is not a work visa. Most countries worldwide are quite restrictive about the conditions surrounding work visas, and people who violate the conditions of their visa shouldn't be surprised when there are consequences. Having a valid visa but violating its conditions means you are violating immigration law.
Corporate immigration departments can and do cut corners and may have thought they would save money and time by sending foreign workers on B visas (which they might have already had) or on the visa waiver program. L visa holders don't even have to get paid US-level wages, so one take on the visa type is that it is already a way for companies to undercut US labor.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/sep/12/s...
And for the downvoters, try going and working in a foreign country without the proper paperwork and see how it pans out (and how the locals feel about it)...
Which one would that be in this case?
I cannot honestly believe that you think any group of people on earth would look at this situation and then think that they should have just followed the rules better.
The South Korean government is already saying that the US needs to fix its visa program if it wants the investment[1]
[1] https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_internatio...
This wasn’t in a vacuum done solely for Hyundais profit. The government that did this raid is currently threatening every other country that doesn’t invest in the US _now_ with tariffs and sanctions.
I’m actually trying to understand your point here because what you’re describing to me seems as crazy as a seeing a mugger be pissed that the muggee wasn’t polite enough during the encounter
Some of the workers were on tourist visas.
It's very disappointing. I just bought an Ioniq 9 and it's a great car. I'm really bothered, at both sides, (US and Hundai/LG), for letting the situation get like this.
> Working illegally in South Korea can result in deportation, a fine of up to 30 million KRW (approximately US$22,000), and a ban on re-entry for up to five years. Employers who hire illegal foreign workers also face significant penalties, including fines of up to 20 million KRW (around US$15,000) and/or imprisonment.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/692522/surge-concern-immigratio...
https://www.axios.com/2025/09/10/trump-ice-big-beautiful-bil...
https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/docume...
If HN detests H1B abuse by consultancies like TCS, then calling out B1/2 and VWP visa abuse by Korean manufacturing firms should be acceptable as well, otherwise it's just white collar hypocrisy.
This factory has had multiple deaths in the past two years due to labor abuse and shoddy safety standards [1][2][3], but kept getting pushed back by political pressure. Given the size of the raid, someone at OSHA most likely gave an "anonymous" tip [4].
91 ambulance calls were made at this factory site over 20 months [5] - well above the average for similar sites [6].
TSMC attempted something similar when spinning up the Chandler fab, but the Biden admin stuck to their guns and pushed back on TSMC.
[0] - https://www.ft.com/content/c677b9aa-2e89-4feb-a56f-f3c8452b3...
[1] - https://www.kherkhergarcia.com/fatal-forklift-accident-batte...
[2] - https://labornotes.org/2025/09/georgia-battery-plant-raid-sp...
[3] - https://www.spaglaw.com/blog/2025/05/worker-killed-by-fallin...
[4] - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/12/immigration-...
[5] - https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/local/2025/03/15/peop...
[6] - https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/06/construction-deaths-injurie...
But that's not what happened. And the message seems pretty clear: don't come to the US to work, unless you fancy being treated like a busted drug dealer.
You can't do that and then claim it was about workplace safety. Well, I mean, I guess you can, but the factory workers and investors aren't going to believe you.
I realize that's kinda dense, but you can google it up yourself. Koreans well understand this type of thing.
Now tell them it wasn't just an ordinary illegal immigrant worker, but a group of, let's say, BMW employees from Germany, building a new car factory in (some Korean city), but apparently they had the wrong visa.
Koreans would say "Have we completely lost our goddamn mind?"
They have - multiple times, both under Biden and Trump, as the sources I gave have mentioned. Heck, The Guardian in strongly opposed to the Trump admin and pointed this out too.
> But that's not what happened
That is what happened. The issue was Hyundai would spin up yet another contracting firm.
[0] - https://www.globaldetentionproject.org/ngos-urge-un-human-ri...
[1] - https://www.newskorea.ne.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=7205
AFAIK H1Bs follow the letter of the law and calls are for reform to make visas stricter / reduce the kinds of visas, which is basically the opposite of what I’m seeing here.
Yes. Of these companies [0], Hyundai-LG has been the only malcontent
[0] - https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/06/tracking-the-ev-battery-fa...
You can't complain about it in your industry and get mad when people do it about theirs...
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