Departure timeline for Korean workers detained in immigration raid uncertain after flight canceled

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ATLANTA (AP) — After the detention of more than 300 South Korean workers in an immigration raid at a Georgia battery plant last week, a charter plane arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday to bring them home. But its scheduled return carrying the workers in the afternoon was canceled, an airport spokesperson said.

The Koreans were among some 475 workers detained during last week's raid at the battery factory under construction on the campus of Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant west of Savannah.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry said Seoul and Washington were discussing details for the workers' return. The State Department says Secretary of State Marco Rubio and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun highlighted the U.S.-South Korea alliance and strong relationship at a hastily arranged meeting Wednesday. In a statement that did not mention the arrests, the department said the meeting focused on strengthening bilateral ties and underscoring the importance of the alliance between Washington and Seoul.

Here are some things to know about the raid and its aftermath.

A Korean Air Boeing 747-8i departed from Seoul for the U.S. to bring back the detained Korean workers and landed in Atlanta on Wednesday. It remained unclear when the plane would make a return flight with the workers on board.

“As of now, it is canceled. We don’t have any further updates right now,” airport spokesperson Jennifer Walters said via email.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry had said earlier that the plane could not depart from the U.S. on Wednesday as South Korea had hoped due to an unspecified reason involving the U.S. side.

The workers were being held at an immigration detention center in Folkston, in southeast Georgia, near the state line with Florida. It’s a 285-mile (460-kilometer) drive from there to Atlanta. Three buses were parked at the detention center Wednesday.

South Korean officials said they’ve been negotiating with the U.S. to win “voluntary” departures for the workers, rather than deportations that could make them ineligible to return to the U.S. for up to 10 years.

South Korean TV showed Cho Ki-joong, consul general at the Korean Embassy in Washington, speaking outside the detention center. He said some administrative steps remained to be completed but that things were going smoothly. The South Korean Foreign Ministry declined to comment on media reports that he and other diplomats met with detained workers.

U.S. authorities have said that those detained during the raid were “unlawfully working” at the plant. But Charles Kuck, a lawyer representing several of the detained South Koreans, said the “vast majority” of the workers from South Korea were doing work that is authorized under the B-1 business visitor visa program.

A B-1 visitor for business visa allows foreign workers to stay for up to six months, getting reimbursed for expenses while collecting a paycheck back home. There are limits — for example, they can supervise construction projects but can’t build anything themselves — but if it’s spelled out in a contract, they can install equipment, Los Angeles immigration lawyer Angelo Paparelli said.

Also, South Korea is one of 41 countries whose citizens can use the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), which provides a visa waiver if they can provide “a legitimate reason’’ for their visit, and this basically gives them B-1 visa status for up to 90 days, said immigration attorney Rita Sostrin in Los Angeles.

In Pooler, a suburb of Savannah, the sprawling Hyundai electric vehicle plant has triggered noticeable growth.

Signs in shopping center parking lots point to homes for sale in new subdivisions nearby. Construction crews work on multistory apartment buildings while finished apartments in the same complex display large banners proclaiming they’re ready for new residents.

Meanwhile, a growing number of Korean restaurants and Asian grocery stores have found a home among standard American fast-food franchises and chain eateries like Starbucks and Cracker Barrel.

The U.S. Census Bureau says Pooler’s population jumped to 31,171 last year, an increase of 21% since 2020. That period includes the groundbreaking and construction of Hyundai’s EV factory.

People of Asian origin made up just 6% of the suburban city’s residents in 2020. While newer demographic data isn’t available, people in the area say Korean Americans and South Korean immigrants make up a sizable share of recent newcomers.

Pastor Robin Kim and his wife closed last month on a new home in Pooler, where Kim is starting his own church. He left the Army a few months ago after serving as a chaplain to soldiers at nearby Fort Stewart. Kim said they wanted to be a part of the Savannah suburb’s growing Korean community.

Kim, 51, said he noticed fewer Korean people out shopping over the weekend, and a constant stream of messages expressing concern and anxiety is posted in a chat group of 1,900 local Korean residents.

“The people feel like they’re being watched, like they’re being judged by the American people,” Kim said. “They are scared right now. They don’t want to be trouble.”

He said some are resentful at the U.S. government considering the billions of dollars Hyundai has invested in the Georgia plant and the thousands of U.S. jobs it’s creating. Others worry the immigration arrests will mean increased scrutiny that hinders their own efforts to extend visas or obtain green cards.

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Bynum reported from Folkston, Georgia. Associated Press writers Hyung-Jin Kim in Seoul and Didi Tang and Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed.