Trump tells foreign firms to ‘respect’ immigration laws after Hyundai raid – US politics live

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300 South Koreans detained at Hyundai plant in US to be released, says Seoul

Victoria Bekiempis

South Korea announced on Sunday that the roughly 300 of its nationals detained during an immigration raid in Georgia would be released and flown home, as the sudden detention of workers appeared to strain the longstanding diplomatic and economic relationship between the two nations.

Nearly 500 workers, among them at least 300 South Koreans and at least 23 Mexicans, were arrested at the Hyundai-LG battery plant in the city of Ellabell on Thursday.

US authorities released footage of the raid, which showed detained workers, restrained in handcuffs and ankle chains, loaded on to buses. The raid marked the largest single site sweep carried out under Donald Trump’s nationwide anti-immigration campaign.

“As a result of the swift and united response … negotiations for the release of the detained workers have been concluded,” Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff to South Korea’s president Lee Jae Myung, told reporters.

“Only administrative procedures remain. Once these are completed, a chartered flight will depart to bring our citizens home,” he said.

LG executive Kim Ki-soo flew to Georgia in an apparent effort to slow the fallout. “The immediate priority now is the swift release of both our LG Energy Solution employees and those of our partner firms,” Ki-soo reportedly said before boarding a plane.

Trump tells foreign companies to ‘respect’ immigration law after Hyundai Ice raid

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next couple of hours.

We start with news that Donald Trump has told foreign companies that they must hire and train American workers and respect immigration laws, after a raid at a Hyundai Motor manufacturing facility in Georgia saw about 300 South Koreans detained.

Nearly 500 workers in total were detained in the raid on Thursday, with US authorities releasing footage showing them restrained in handcuffs and ankle chains, loaded on to buses.

The raid marked the largest single site sweep carried out under Trump’s nationwide anti-immigration campaign and appeared to strain the longstanding diplomatic and economic relationship between the US and South Korea.

“I am hereby calling on all Foreign Companies investing in the United States to please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday, adding “Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people … What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers.”

A still frame from a video made available by ICE shows an immigration raid at the Hyundai plant in Ellabell, Georgia Photograph: Corey Bullard With Us Immigration And Customs Enforcement (ice)/EPA

Trump made the post shortly after telling reporters he would look at what happened but that the incident had not harmed his relationship with South Korea.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor advised staff who were about to go on business trips next week to the US to delay them unless considered indispensable, a South Korean newspaper reported on Monday.

And in other developments:

• US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has refused to acknowledge that the sweeping trade tariffs imposed by Donald Trump around the world are taxes on Americans. In a new interview Bessent, a former billionaire hedge fund manager, dismissed concerns from major American companies including John Deere, Nike and Black and Decker who have all said that Trump’s tariffs policy will cost them billions of dollars annually.

• The Republican senator who heads the homeland security committee has criticized JD Vance for “despicable” comments apparently in support of extrajudicial military killings. “Killing cartel members who poison our fellow citizens is the highest and best use of our military,” the vice-president said in an X post on Saturday, in defense of Tuesday’s US military strike against a Venezuelan boat in the Caribbean Sea, which killed 11 people the administration alleged were drug traffickers.

• President Trump on Sunday suggested a Gaza deal could come soon to secure the release of all the hostages held by Hamas, after earlier issuing what he called his “last warning” to the Palestinian militant group. Trump, speaking to reporters after landing in the Washington area on Sunday evening following a brief trip to New York, said he had been discussing the issue on the plane.

• Trump was booed and cheered at the US Open during the national anthem before Sunday’s men’s final. Prior to the match, US Open broadcasters were asked not to show any negative crowd reactions to the president at the event.

• Nine attorneys – who have represented approximately 50 Jeffrey Epstein survivors – have told the Guardian they have not been recently contacted by the justice department, despite the president’s promises to get to the bottom of the deceased financier’s crimes.

• As Chicago braced for an immigration enforcement crackdown and a possible national guard deployment, churches across the city have urged congregants to carry identification, stay connected to family and protest.

• Trump said on Sunday that individual European leaders would visit the United States on Monday or Tuesday to discuss how to resolve the Russian-Ukraine war. Speaking to reporters, Trump also said he would speak to Russian president Vladimir Putin soon.