An immigration raid on an LG Energy battery plant under construction in Georgia has had a ripple effect on several other projects led by the South Korean company in the United States, Bloomberg has reported.
The report said LG Energy had sent out an internal notice for the immediate return to South Korea of all workers and contractors who were in the United States under a short-term visa-free travel program. The notice also advised personnel on a B-1 visa to stay in their hotels until further notice. An earlier report by Korea News Daily said work at 22 projects led by South Korean firms in the United States has been disrupted.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency detained close to 500 people at the Ellabell EV battery plant that is currently under construction in Georgia. The ground for the detention was suspicion that there were illegal migrants at the site. Following the raid, the ICE said it had found people “fraudulently using visitors’ visas”.
The news sent shockwaves through industries where there is heavy foreign investment. The FT quoted one law firm executive as saying other companies were worried they could also become targets for ICE raids because they, too, employ foreign nationals in their U.S. projects.
Another law firm source told the FT that “It may be an aggressive use of the B-1 category for business meetings, or it could be an over-reach by ICE, and they may have taken a more restrictive view of what’s allowed as a business visitor than what’s in the regulations.”
The ICE raid also led to tension between Washington and Seoul right after the two presidents met to discuss cooperation. South Korean companies are among the biggest investors in the U.S., and LG Energy is near the top of that list with billions pledged for battery plants. The one in Georgia alone had a price tag of $4.3 billion.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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