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Trump administration border czar Tom Homan vowed more workplace immigration enforcement operations on Sunday, similar to the Georgia Hyundai plant raid that detained hundreds last week.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested nearly 500 people during a raid Thursday at an electric battery plant in Georgia run by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution. Most of those arrested were reportedly South Korean nationals living and working in the country illegally, whether by illicitly entering, overstaying visas, or violating visa waivers by working.
When asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper if the Trump administration would pursue similar raids in the future, Homan said they would continue.
“The short answer is yes,” Homan said. “We‘re going to do more worksite enforcement operations because number one, it‘s a crime to enter this country illegally. Number two, it‘s a crime to knowingly hire an illegal alien, and these companies that hire illegal aliens, they undercut the competition that’s paying U.S. citizen salaries.”
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“Look, no one hires illegal aliens on the goodness of their heart. They hire them because they work them harder, pay them less, and undercut the competition,” Homan added.
Hyundai owns the plant, but the company said none of the detained workers were directly employed by the company.
The South Korean government has since reached a deal with the U.S. to secure the release of hundreds of migrant workers detained at the Hyundai factory.
President Lee Jae Myung’s office says the country will send a charter plane to bring the workers back to South Korea in the coming days.
The Trump administration has made immigration enforcement a national priority, vowing to close the border and deport millions of illegal immigrants. The administration has already deported more than 300,000 illegal immigrants, according to federal data, and deportations have surged to more than 1,500 per day—a rate not seen since President Barack Obama’s term, according to The New York Times.
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Homan said he had personal experience with how illegal immigration puts Americans out of work and drives down salaries for U.S. employees. When he was replacing his roof, he had to make numerous inquiries before finding a company that could guarantee a legal workforce.
“I talked to one company, just a father and son, who laid off 20 citizen employees because they couldn’t win a bid. The competition were bidding a lot less for a job because they were paying employees a lot less to work because they’re illegally in the United States,” Homan said.
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Homan added the administration’s workplace raids have contributed to the country having the “most secure” border in history.
Fox New Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
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