NEW YORK: President Donald Trump on Sunday said foreign workers sent to the United States are “welcome” and he doesn’t want to “frighten off” investors, 10 days after hundreds of South Koreans were arrested at a work site in Georgia.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, the 79-year-old Republican wrote: “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize investment.”
Some 475 people, mostly South Korean nationals, were arrested at the construction site of an electric vehicle battery factory, operated by Hyundai-LG, in the southeastern US state of Georgia on September 4.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials alleged South Koreans had overstayed their visas or held permits that didn’t allow them to perform manual labor.
The Georgia raid was the largest single-site operation conducted since Trump launched a sweeping immigration crackdown across the country.
Though the United States decided against deportation, images of the workers being chained and handcuffed during the raid caused widespread alarm in South Korea.
Seoul repatriated the workers on Friday.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called the raid “bewildering” and warned Thursday that the raid could discourage future investment.
In his post, Trump described the circumstances for temporarily allowing foreign experts into the US to build “extremely complex products.”
“Chips, Semiconductors, Computers, Ships, Trains, and so many other products that we have to learn from others how to make, or, in many cases, relearn because we used to be great at it, but not anymore,” Trump wrote.
“We welcome them, we welcome their employees, and we are willing to proudly say we will learn from them, and do even better than them at their own ‘game,’ sometime in the not too distant future,” Trump added.
Korea’s trade unions have called on Trump to issue an official apology.
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Trump concerned South Korean arrests could ‘frighten’ investors
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Trump concerned South Korean arrests could ‘frighten’ investors
- In a post on his Truth Social platform, the 79-year-old Republican wrote: “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivize investment”
Greece seeks to toughen punishment for migrant smuggling
ATHENS: Greece’s migration ministry on Saturday said it had submitted a new bill to parliament aimed at toughening penalties for migrant trafficking, including life sentences.
Greece was the main entry point into Europe for Syrian refugees at the height of Europe’s migration crisis in 2015.
There are several legal proceedings underway against aid workers and migrants accused of being people smugglers.
“Penalties for the illegal trafficking of migrants will be toughened at all levels,” the ministry said in a statement.
Sentences of up to life imprisonment are envisaged for smugglers, and migrants convicted of offenses may be directly expelled, it said.
Assistance provided to irregular migrants by migrants with regular status will also be criminalized, according to the proposals.
Migration Minister Thanos Plevris is a former member of a far-right party.
Penalties against NGO members prosecuted for migrant trafficking are also to be beefed up with prison sentences, the ministry said, adding that parliament will examine the bill next week.
In a joint statement, 56 NGOs, including the Greek branches of Doctors of the World and Doctors Without Borders, called for the immediate withdrawal of several articles that reclassify certain offenses as crimes, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines of tens of thousands of euros when a member of an organization is prosecuted.
They also decry the exorbitant power granted to the ministry, which can decide to remove an organization from the registry and end its work solely on the basis of charges brought against one of its members, without a conviction.
On January 15, 24 aid workers, including Sarah Mardini, a Syrian who, together with her Olympic swimmer sister inspired the 2022 film “The Swimmers,” were acquitted by a court on the island of Lesbos.
Charged with “forming a criminal organization” and “illegally facilitating the entry into Greece of foreign nationals from third countries,” they had faced up to 20 years in prison.
With this new law, the migration ministry aims to promote legal migration by easing hiring procedures for workers from third countries, creating a new visa for employees of high-tech companies, and issuing residence permits to students from third-world countries for the duration of their studies.
For asylum seekers and refugees, vocational training programs in sectors facing labor shortages, such as construction, agriculture, and tourism, are being introduced to support their entry into the job market.
Greece was the main entry point into Europe for Syrian refugees at the height of Europe’s migration crisis in 2015.
There are several legal proceedings underway against aid workers and migrants accused of being people smugglers.
“Penalties for the illegal trafficking of migrants will be toughened at all levels,” the ministry said in a statement.
Sentences of up to life imprisonment are envisaged for smugglers, and migrants convicted of offenses may be directly expelled, it said.
Assistance provided to irregular migrants by migrants with regular status will also be criminalized, according to the proposals.
Migration Minister Thanos Plevris is a former member of a far-right party.
Penalties against NGO members prosecuted for migrant trafficking are also to be beefed up with prison sentences, the ministry said, adding that parliament will examine the bill next week.
In a joint statement, 56 NGOs, including the Greek branches of Doctors of the World and Doctors Without Borders, called for the immediate withdrawal of several articles that reclassify certain offenses as crimes, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and fines of tens of thousands of euros when a member of an organization is prosecuted.
They also decry the exorbitant power granted to the ministry, which can decide to remove an organization from the registry and end its work solely on the basis of charges brought against one of its members, without a conviction.
On January 15, 24 aid workers, including Sarah Mardini, a Syrian who, together with her Olympic swimmer sister inspired the 2022 film “The Swimmers,” were acquitted by a court on the island of Lesbos.
Charged with “forming a criminal organization” and “illegally facilitating the entry into Greece of foreign nationals from third countries,” they had faced up to 20 years in prison.
With this new law, the migration ministry aims to promote legal migration by easing hiring procedures for workers from third countries, creating a new visa for employees of high-tech companies, and issuing residence permits to students from third-world countries for the duration of their studies.
For asylum seekers and refugees, vocational training programs in sectors facing labor shortages, such as construction, agriculture, and tourism, are being introduced to support their entry into the job market.
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