Trump backs ICE raid at Hyundai plant, but says US needs foreign experts to train Americans

President Donald Trump said Sunday that while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was right to arrest South Korean immigrants working illegally at a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia, the U.S. should consider letting foreign experts temporarily stay to train Americans in advanced industries.

Homeland Security Investigations said 475 people — mostly South Koreans — were arrested at the under-construction battery plant. Hyundai said it owns the site but insisted none of the workers were directly employed by the company.

When asked about the ICE operation on Sunday, Trump told reporters the U.S. needs experts who know how to build batteries to help train Americans with no such experience. 

“If you don’t have people in this country right now that know about batteries, maybe we should help them along…,” Trump said, adding that industries like shipbuilding and computer manufacturing also need skilled trainers. “So, we’re going to look at that whole situation. We have a lot of industries that we don’t have any more, and we’re going to have to train people.”

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He continued to explain that the best way to train people is to bring people in who know what they are doing, while also letting them stay in the U.S. for a little while to help.

Still, Trump said ICE was right to arrest those in the country illegally. “We do have to work something out where we bring in experts so that our people can be trained so that they can do it themselves,” he said.

Later on Truth Social, Trump urged foreign companies investing in the U.S. to respect immigration laws while pledging to make it “quickly and legally possible” for them to bring in skilled workers. 

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“Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build World Class products, and we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so,” he wrote. “What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers. Together, we will all work hard to make our Nation not only productive, but closer in unity than ever before. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

On Sunday, the South Korean government reached a deal with the U.S. to secure the release of hundreds of migrant workers detained at the factory.

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President Lee Jae Myung’s office said South Korea will send a charter plane to bring the workers back to South Korea in the coming days.

Still, South Korea’s government expressed “concern and regret” over the raid.

Homeland Security Investigations chief Steven Schrank said some workers had crossed the border illegally, while others overstayed visas or entered under waivers that barred them from working. Many were employed by subcontractors at the site.

The Georgia raid marked one of the largest workplace enforcement actions of Trump’s presidency, part of a broader crackdown on illegal immigration.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, Cameron Arcand and The Associated Press contributed to this report.