OPINION:
“Hyundai’s commitment to invest more than $5 billion and create more than 8,000 jobs making electric vehicles and batteries will help boost the entire community around Bryan County with good jobs people can raise a family on, and ultimately help lower costs for the American people,” President Biden touted on Oct. 25, 2022, of the deal his administration made for Hyundai and South Korean firm LG Energy solutions to build a factory near Savannah, Georgia.
Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, said it was the most significant economic project in Georgia’s history and gave the South Korean automaker $2.1 billion in tax breaks to build its megafactory. Those incentives included abated property taxes through 2049, sales tax exemptions for construction and income tax credits tied to job creation.
Flash-forward to Thursday, when a large-scale immigration raid at the facility found that 475 of its employees were illegals (300 of them South Korean citizens). None of those detained was hired directly by Hyundai, though LG Energy directly hired 47. About 250 were subcontractors of the two companies.
This, as American workers were recently fired from the plant.
“We went out there and did a great job, no fatalities, no injuries, and then we just got replaced by the undocumented workers,” Barry Zeigler, the business manager of UA Local Union 188, which represents plumbers, pipefitters, welders and air-conditioning technicians, told The Wall Street Journal. “It was a kick in the knee.”
Mr. Zeigler said 65 of his union members were fired from the battery facility just a few months ago after being hired by two subcontractors to install piping.
Hyundai secured many legal temporary business visas, known as B-1 visas, through the U.S. government to help launch its Georgia plant. The B-1 visa allows short-term training, contract signing and consulting, but not full-time construction work. Of those detained in the raid, many had expired B-1 visas or were doing work inappropriate to the terms of the visa. Others had crossed the border illegally.
The South Korean press lamented the difficulties of obtaining U.S. visas to import South Korean workers to American shores, largely ignoring the crux of the argument: that foreign companies looking to invest in America need to hire American workers.
“Foreign nationals must acquire an appropriate visa, such as the H-1B, L1 or E2, to legally obtain employment at workplaces located in the U.S. But as those visas can take months to obtain and their numbers are capped, they are often deemed impractical for companies that need to dispatch workers frequently or on short notice,” The Korea Herald moaned of the raid. “Industry officials also complain that wait times for all types of visas have lengthened since the start of the Trump administration.”
This, as the U.S. job market is showing weakness. The U.S. economy added only 22,000 jobs in August, far below economists’ expectations, making it the slowest month of job gains since 2010. Manufacturing lost 12,000 jobs last month, and professional and business services shed 17,000. Moreover, the total job growth for June and July was revised downward by 21,000 from previous reports.
In his second term, President Trump boasted that his administration had attracted $14 trillion in new corporate investments to the U.S., many of those from foreign companies or countries. He listed each new deal on a “Trump effect” website.
On Sunday, he wrote on Truth Social that foreign companies’ investments in the U.S. were welcome and should “LEGALLY bring your very smart people with great technical talent, to build World Class products, and we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so.”
He added, “What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers.”
On Sunday, U.S. border czar Tom Homan said on CNN that the workplace raids would continue.
“You’re going to see a lot more worksite enforcement operations,” he said. “It’s a crime to knowingly hire an illegal alien.”
Mr. Homan then said the obvious: Employers are enticed to hire illegals because they can pay them less, undercutting competing, hardworking Americans.
“Following the Immigration Enforcement Operation on the Hyundai Battery Plant in Georgia, I am hereby calling on all Foreign Companies investing in the United States to please respect our immigration laws,” Mr. Trump Truthed on Sunday.
For Americans to benefit from these foreign investments, strict enforcement of those laws will be necessary. A chartered plane will be sent to the U.S. by South Korea to bring its detained citizens home this week.
Now, Georgia’s UA Local Union 188 should be reengaged.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.