A local attorney claimed that the U.S. immigration authorities' detention of 317 Koreans at the Hyundai Motor and LG Energy Solution battery plant in Georgia was a move to meet a daily arrest quota set by the White House.
Charles Cook, an immigration attorney at the Atlanta law firm Cook Baxter, told Forbes, a U.S. business outlet, on the 16th (local time) that "the arrests of Koreans were entirely due to an arrest quota ordered by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, 40."
He criticized, "Even though agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not misuse (abuse) visas and made the mistake of arresting people who were legally authorized to work, they regarded it as a successful operation because they met the daily quota of 3,000 immigrant arrests."
The New York Times (NYT) reported that in an interview with Fox News in late May, Miller said the White House was requiring ICE to arrest 3,000 people a day as a measure to strengthen enforcement. During the first 100 days of the Trump administration, ICE arrested more than 66,000 people, an average of about 660 a day. The NYT also reported recently that "worksite raids are seen as a way to secure large numbers (of arrests)."
According to Forbes, on the 31st of last month, U.S. magistrate judge Christopher Ray issued a warrant authorizing an ICE search of the Georgia battery plant, limiting the targets of the raid to four Mexican nationals. The warrant did not mention the arrest of Korean employees working at the battery plant, the report said.
Citing the fact that ICE did not bring a Korean interpreter at the time, Cook said this was "evidence that Koreans were not originally the targets of the raid." Nevertheless, he said ICE agents confirmed that the Koreans at the facility had entered on B-1 visas or through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).
Cook said, "ICE agents did not properly recognize that 'after-sales service and installation' can be performed on B-1 visas and ESTA," and added, "ICE agents decided on site to arrest all Korean employees." Of the 11 Koreans he represents, one arrived the night before the raid and, at the time of arrest, was wearing a suit and in a meeting in a conference room.
ICE later told the media on the 5th of this month that "an initial investigation found that 475 people were detained." A press release also claimed, "Those arrested during the operation were found to be violating visa and status conditions and working illegally. Holders of short-term stay or tourist visas are not authorized to work in the United States."
But Cook countered that this was not true, saying that according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), "the B-1 visa allows certain international contract and sales-related services, as well as installation and servicing of foreign equipment (that does not involve hiring local labor or construction work)."
Meanwhile, Miller, who concurrently serves as homeland security adviser at the White House with the authority to coordinate multiple departments, is the figure leading the Trump administration's anti-immigration policy. Local media describe him as "an untouchable force" and "one of the most powerful unelected figures in America."