On September 4th, over 300 South Korean workers were detained in a U.S. immigration raid at a Hyundai manufacturing plant in Georgia.

Most were here legally, working as part of one of the largest foreign investments in the American South—a multibillion-dollar clean-energy and manufacturing project.

They were building batteries for American vehicles. Instead, they were rounded up and held like criminals.

The raid sent shockwaves through South Korea, prompting that country’s government to launch a formal human rights investigation. It also shook global confidence in how the United States treats foreign workers, even those invited to help strengthen our supply chains and modernize our industries.

President Trump has since said that foreign workers are “welcome”—but the damage is already done. The message from this raid was loud and clear: even legal workers aren’t safe from surprise detentions, retaliation, or humiliation.

That must change now.

We, the undersigned, call on the U.S. Congress and the Department of Homeland Security to immediately:

• Establish federal guidelines to protect legal foreign workers from being caught in ICE raids
• Prohibit workplace raids at sites linked to official international investment agreements without prior notice and diplomatic coordination
• Create a formal process for redress and reinstatement for legal workers wrongfully detained.
   

America’s future depends on global collaboration—and that means protecting the workers we ask to help build it.

If we expect foreign governments to trust us with investment, we must treat their citizens with dignity—not as collateral damage in domestic politics.

Sign this petition to protect legal foreign workers and demand accountability now.