South Korean workers detained in immigration raid leave Atlanta and head home

ATLANTA AP A plane carrying more than workers from South Korea who were detained during an immigration raid at a battery factory in Georgia last week left Atlanta shortly before noon Thursday bound for South Korea The workers traveled by bus from a detention center in southeast Georgia to Atlanta earlier in the day for their flight which is expected to land in South Korea on Friday afternoon South Korea s Foreign Ministry noted the detainees circulated by U S agents included Koreans Chinese nationals three Japanese nationals and one Indonesian More than Koreans were among about workers detained during last week s raid at the battery factory under construction on the campus of Hyundai s sprawling auto plant west of Savannah The workers had been held at an immigration detention center in Folkston miles kilometers southeast of Atlanta South Korea s President Lee Jae Myung called Thursday for improvements to the United States visa system saying Korean companies will likely hesitate to make new investments in the U S until that happens Lee revealed during a news conference that Korean and U S administrators had a back-and-forth discussion over whether the detainees had to be handcuffed while they traveled by bus to Atlanta something the Koreans strongly opposed He revealed there was also a debate over whether they would be leaving under voluntary departure or deportation While those discussions were ongoing U S representatives started to return the detainees belongings Then however everything suddenly halted Lee reported adding that they were stated that was due to instructions from the White House President Trump had directed that the detainees should be allowed to return home freely and those who didn t want to go didn t have to he declared We were informed that because of that instruction the process was paused and the administrative procedures were changed accordingly A South Korean Foreign Ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the diplomatic process reported Trump had halted the process to hear from South Korea on whether the Koreans should be allowed to stay to continue their work and help train U S workers or should be sent back to South Korea Lee announced during his news conference that the U S gave the detainees a choice between staying and going home Ultimately one South Korean national who has relatives in the U S chose to stay Lee declared