The sweeping ICE operation in Georgia Thursday that rounded up some 475 illegal workers at a showcase development project is intended as a warning to employers nationwide.
It also illustrates the America First contradiction of demanding foreign investment in the U.S. while shrinking the available workforce.
The raid targeted an electric battery manufacturing plant under construction to serve the U.S. market. The plant is a project of Hyundai, which makes electric vehicles at a plant nearby, and LG Energy Solution, a U.S. branch of another South Korean giant.
Most of the arrested were Korean nationals, while some were Mexican. A Homeland Security spokesman told the press the migrants either crossed the border illegally, overstayed their visas, or arrived on visas that didn’t allow them to work.
That last point is important because it suggests some of the Koreans may have been here temporarily to supervise construction or to train Americans. Quality control is crucial to a successful manufacturing operation, and companies often bring in experienced employers from the home country to ensure it.
Both Korean companies said they follow immigration law and are cooperating with ICE. But some of the illegal migrants may have worked for contractors helping to build the battery plant.
The construction industry can’t find enough American workers these days, so migrants with fake documentation often fill the gap. The eternity it takes to build anything in the U.S. would be worse without these workers.
Americans want the law enforced, but raiding legal workplaces isn’t going after criminal gangs or murderers.
The Georgia raid shows the Trump Administration’s priority is deporting every illegal migrant no matter how long they have worked here. This makes every employer a potential target of an ICE raid if the agency suspects foreigners are working there.
This is already having a notable impact on the U.S. labor market, as recent monthly jobs reports suggest. It’s hard to know how much the foreign-born workforce is shrinking, and that will be clearer as seasonally adjusted data arrive.
But If President Trump wants a smaller U.S. population, he is going to get a weaker labor market and economy for Americans.
How about asking Congress to create more legal ways to enter and work in the U.S.?
