Immigration advocates denounced a large-scale US Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Georgia last week as a "militarized assault on immigrant workers," urging transparency and accountability at a Monday press conference in Savannah.
“All workers regardless of status were intimidated, including pregnant women,” said Daniela Rodriguez, executive director of Migrant Equity Southeast. “Their labor makes coastal Georgia thrive. We cannot call ourselves a civilized society if the very people who build our homes, our cars and our future are treated this way.”
On Thursday, ICE carried out an immigration raid at the construction site of the Hyundai Motor Group-LG Energy Solution jointly operated battery plant in Georgia, arresting 475 people, including about 300 South Koreans. The detained South Koreans are expected to be repatriated Wednesday via a chartered flight.
According to the advocates, witnesses described heavily armed ICE agents surrounding the site with helicopters, drones and armored vehicles. Workers were loaded onto buses, had their phones confiscated and were pressured to sign documents without legal counsel. They said agents also used physical force, tear gas and intimidation tactics.
“Militarized enforcement actions disguised as workplace investigations raise serious legal and moral concerns,” said Meredyth Yoon, litigation director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta. “This raid is among the largest worksite actions in US history, and it cannot come at the expense of individual rights.”
shinjh@heraldcorp.com
