South Korea Should Turn the US ICE Raid Into Trade Leverage
Why humiliate these workers?
Photographer: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images
The immigration raid at a South Korean-owned electric battery plant in Georgia last month shocked the world with its overreach. At a time when the Trump administration is trying to re-industrialize America, why humiliate hundreds of business travelers? As the injured party, Seoul ought to capitalize on the widespread public outcry to strike the best trade deal it can with Washington.
In the aftermath of the Sept. 4 crackdown on the jointly owned Hyundai Motor Co. and LG Energy Solution Ltd. factory outside Savannah — the biggest-ever Homeland Security enforcement action at a single location — US officials sought to justify the operation by saying the 300 South Koreans arrested were working illegally. But that logic now appears to be on shaky ground.