When Youngjin looked out from his office window and saw armored trucks and armed immigration officers rushing around outside, he was surprised but calm. As a South Korean worker in the US on a short-term visa for just a few weeks, he never imagined the situation could involve him.
That changed when heavily armed agents stormed his room. He was ordered outside, handcuffed, chained at the waist and ankles, and taken to a detention bus headed to a federal holding centre, I panicked and my mind went blank. I felt sick,” Youngjin recalled to the BBC after returning to South Korea. “I couldn’t understand why I was being treated like this.”
Youngjin was among more than 300 South Korean workers detained earlier this month in Georgia during one of the largest immigration raids of Donald Trump’s presidency. To protect their identities, those interviewed did not use their real names.
Authorities initially claimed the workers were in the US illegally on incorrect visas. However, following negotiations, an agreement was reached that allowed them to leave voluntarily without incurring penalties, ensuring they could return to work on future projects.
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