Hyundai hoped to return skilled South Korean workers to the US after the ICE raid. Trump just opened the door

By Chris Isidore, Betsy Klein, Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN

(CNN) — After ICE in September raided a still-under-construction Georgia Hyundai plant – and arrested and deported hundreds of South Korean workers – the automaker’s CEO, José Muñoz, said he hoped for a resolution that could bring crucial foreign-worker expertise back to the United States.

President Donald Trump on Monday agreed, saying he was “very much opposed” to the raid carried out by members of his administration.

“In fact, before they got out… I said they could stay… and they’re going to be coming back,” he said. “When they come in, they’re making very complex machinery, equipment, things. They’re going to have to bring some people in, at least at that initial phase.”

Trump made his comments on Air Force One while on his way to Asia for a meeting with world leaders, including South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who has expressed concern about the raid. As a result, Lee said he was skeptical about the future of South Korean investment in the United States.

On Friday, Lee told Bloomberg that he understood many of the workers didn’t want to return to the United States.

“This has also caused severe trauma for the workers as well and I have heard that some workers do not want to go back,” he said. “Without taking measures to ensure the safety and rational treatment of these workers, there is a high possibility that factory construction in the US may be significantly postponed.”

But Lee said he expects a deal with the US “in the not-too-distant future.”

The deported workers were not Hyundai employees but worked for its contractors and LG Energy Solutions, it’s South Korean partner in the plant. Muñoz said while the workers should not have been here without the proper work visas, there needed to be a change in US law to allow for the kind of work. Muñoz also said last month he expected a deal soon between the countries.

“What I’ve learned in the past couple of days and weeks is that activities in this particular battery factory that require a very specific expertise that is not in the country,” Muñoz told CNN at a media roundtable in September. “I believe there needs to be a visa which is especially designed for these types of people that may need to enter the country five or six or six, seven times. Once the factory is finished, they don’t come back again.”

“I think both governments, South Korea and the US are working activity to try to ensure that situation like this don’t happen again,” Muñoz added.

Hyundai did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Trump’s latest remarks.

The raid and deportation had stirred anger in South Korea and at his appearance before investors and journalists in New York, Muñoz apologized to the workers for what they went through with their arrests and deportations.

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