Sept. 11 (UPI) — A passenger jet carrying 316 South Korean nationals and 14 others departed the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport late Thursday morning and is bound for South Korea.
The chartered aircraft took flight at 11:30 a.m. EDT after arriving on Wednesday, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WAGA-TV and The Korea Times reported.
Officials at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Folkston, Ga., released the detained South Koreans overnight, who were taken to the Atlanta airport to fly home on an aircraft that the South Korean government chartered to retrieve them.
The workers were among about 475 workers who were detained during a Sept. 4 ICE raid for working without visa permits at an under-construction Hyundai electric-vehicle battery plant in Bryan County, Ga., near Savannah.
President Donald Trump temporarily delayed the workers’ departure while considering if they might remain in the United States to help educate and train U.S. workers and legal residents, South Korean officials told The Washington Post on Thursday.
ICE officials said the detained workers had illegally entered the United States, overstayed visas or had received visa waivers that did not allow them to work.
The factory is a joint project between the Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution, and the raid has raised concern among South Korean officials regarding the nation’s relationship with the United States.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday called the matter “perplexing” and might prevent further investment in the United States by South Korean firms.
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