After Hyundai raid, Trump doesn’t want to ‘frighten off’ foreign investment
President Donald Trump is trying to reassure foreign companies that their investment is wanted stateside despite the recent implications of immigration raids, including the unprecedented operation at Hyundai’s electric vehicle factory campus in Georgia.
The president posted Sunday on his social media outlet Truth Social that he does not “want to frighten off or disincentivize investment into America by outside countries or companies.” The post comes less than two weeks after federal immigration officers raided a battery factory construction site on Hyundai’s Metaplant campus near Savannah, resulting in 475 arrests and sparking a diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and South Korea.
Trump didn’t cite the Hyundai raid in his post. But his post hints at the difficulties in trying to reconcile the potential conflict between his administration’s immigration and economic agendas.
“I want them (foreign companies) to bring their people of expertise for a period of time to teach and train our people how to make these very unique and complex products,” his post said. “ … If we didn’t do this, all of that massive investment will never come in the first place.”
Homeland Security Investigations, a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, on Sept. 4 raided the battery factory construction site jointly developed by Korean companies Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution. The number of arrests was the largest in the history of HSI, which was founded in 2010.
More than 300 of those arrested were Korean nationals. The U.S. and Korean governments expedited the release of most of the detainees, allowing nearly all of the Korean nationals to fly back to their home country, but the incident will delay the factory’s opening by two to three months, Hyundai and LG officials have said.
Korean officials have raised concerns about the challenges in getting visas for specialized workers, saying there are no American peers for this cutting-edge work. Trump’s post mentions several advanced manufacturing sectors — such as semiconductors, computer chips, shipbuilding and trains — that other countries’ industries have more recent experience developing and building.
“We have to learn from others how to make (these products),” the post said. “Or, in many cases, relearn, because we used to be great at it. But not anymore.”
Several foreign companies and other stakeholders from various nations recently told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Hyundai raid brings into question whether their workers will be able to travel safely to American work sites. Multiple American and Korean diplomats have also called for a reassessment of the visa process.
“We welcome them, we welcome their employees and we are willing to proudly say we will learn from them,” Trump wrote, “and do even better than them at their own ‘game,’ sometime into the not too distant future!”
About the Author
Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives.
