‘US officers pointed guns at us, like prisoners of war’: South Korean workers recall shocking immigration raid by Trump officials

Many described being shackled, loaded onto buses, and held in freezing detention centres, an ordeal they say left them shaken and humiliated.

Youngjin was one of more than 300 Korean workers detained in Georgia. He recalled looking out of his office window and seeing armoured trucks and immigration agents with guns. He was surprised, not scared, he had only been in the US a few weeks on a short-term visa and thought it couldn’t be about him.

Then the agents stormed in, handcuffed him, chained his waist and ankles, and put him on a bus to a detention centre. “I panicked, and my mind went blank. I felt sick,” he told the BBC after returning to South Korea. “I couldn’t understand why I was treated like that.”

At first, US officials said the workers had the wrong visas. Later, both sides made a deal so many could leave voluntarily with no penalties and possibly return to work later. Most of the workers were in the US for a short time to help build an electric car battery factory run by South Korean companies Hyundai and LG. This was part of a US effort to encourage foreign companies to invest and make products in the country.

“We just came out for a brief break, and I could see a lot of people, officials with guns. As Koreans, we just thought they were here to arrest criminals, but then, they suddenly started arresting us,” said Chul-yong, another detainee. He described helicopters, drones, armoured vehicles and officers pointing guns. “You know those red lasers that come out of those guns? It was so shocking that some people were shivering in fear.”

Even those who showed visas were detained. “I thought it would be cleared up, but they shackled us,” said Mr Kim, who asked to be identified only by his last name. Chul-yong says the shackles were tight: “I couldn’t even touch my face.”

They were taken to the Folkston ICE Processing Centre, locked in a cold room with 60–70 others. No blankets for two days; water that “smelled like sewage.” Chul-Yong added, “We tried to sleep anywhere, really. It was really cold. There were people who found packaged bread, heated it up in the microwave, hugging it throughout the night.”

Youngjin, a 30-year-old engineer and sub-contractor for LG, was in the US for a five-week assignment to train staff on specialised high-tech equipment. LG said that most of the workers who were arrested had valid visas or were allowed to enter the US without a visa for a short time under a visa waiver program.

“I had a panic attack. I just stood there trembling,” Youngjin said. “I was wearing short sleeves, so I put my arms inside my clothes and wrapped myself in a towel to try to stay warm at night,” he said. “The worst part was the water. It smelled like sewage. We drank as little as possible.”

In the first few days, Youngjin had no idea how long he would be held. Only after meeting lawyers and consular staff did he learn that the South Korean government was negotiating with US authorities to secure their release.

South Korea’s chief trade negotiator admitted the US may have overstepped, and Seoul is now reviewing potential human rights violations during the raid. The incident has strained ties between the US and South Korea, coming just after a trade deal in which South Korean companies pledged $350 billion in investments in the US.

Back home, Youngjin is still trying to process the trauma. “At the airport, I smiled and hugged my family, but I felt nothing. It wasn’t until my mum cooked me dinner that I cried for the first time,” he said. He now only leaves the house for brief outings, fearing triggers similar to the detention experience.

Chul-yong shared similar struggles. “We came out of the arrival gate smiling, but thinking back, I was close to tears,” he said. Even seeing himself on television was difficult. “People could recognise my body, and my family and friends knew it was me.”

(With Inputs from BBC, Guardian)