Lutnick says Hyundai should have called him for visas, its workers had 'wrong' visas: Report
Published: 12 Sep. 2025, 09:19
Updated: 12 Sep. 2025, 12:05
![U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, left, speaks during a cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 26. [AFP/YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/09/12/1e780028-daa1-429b-a955-d41c7a564cd5.jpg)
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, left, speaks during a cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 26. [AFP/YONHAP]
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday that Hyundai Motor Group should have called him for visas when he commented on its workers who were arrested in last week's immigration raid at a Georgia battery plant construction site due to what he called "wrong visas."
He made the remarks in an Axios interview, as 316 Korean workers headed back home in the morning following their release from a detention center in Folkston, Georgia, a week after their arrest in the raid at the site run by a joint Hyundai-LG Energy Solution venture in Bryan County near Savannah.
"I called up the Koreans, I said, oh, give me a break. Get the right visa and if you're having problems getting the right visa, call me. I'll call (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem," he said during his appearance on the "Axios Show."
"We'll help you get the right visa, but don't do it the wrong way. You can't do things the old way. Donald Trump requires you to do it correctly," he added.
The secretary said that the Korean workers detained in the raid came to the U.S. on tourist visas, emphasizing that Hyundai should have gotten them the "proper visa."
"Hyundai is a total grown-up, more than capable of getting them the proper visa," he said.
He also said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have to "do its job" — a remark backing the immigration operation.
"All these people who are in this country on the wrong visa, change [it]," he said.
"They will fix that. Hyundai will fix it, and they will do it right. But come on, get the right visa. Come on Hyundai. Just do the right process. You knew better than that."
Most of the Koreans arrested in the raid were known to have entered the United States on an ESTA visa waiver program or a B-1 short-term business visitor visa — in what has long been a practice for Korean businesses due to difficulty in securing other visas, including an H-1B visa, a nonimmigrant visa for skilled foreign workers.
Both the ESTA visa waiver program and a B-1 short-term business visitor visa do not allow one to receive a salary from a U.S.-based source, among other restrictions.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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