Two things were surprising about the recent immigrant-worker raid in Georgia. One is that it happened at all, given that it spoils what President Trump could otherwise celebrate as a notable victory in his trade war. The other is that it almost brought the president to admit that somebody slipped up.
Last week federal agents descended on an EV-battery plant under construction by Hyundai Motor Co. near Savannah, Georgia. They arrested 475 workers, mostly South Koreans, on suspicion of visa violations, shackling them like dangerous criminals and putting them in detention. They were still there days later, amid protests in Seoul, while the South Korean government negotiated with US authorities over the workers’ release.
The president had sealed Hyundai’s commitment to build the facility in part by threatening South Korea with tariffs of 25% — reduced to 15% in return for investment commitments and other concessions to US interests. On the face of it, rapid completion of the project would have spurred local output and employment, doing its bit to boost manufacturing and make America great again. For the moment, construction is on hold. Once it resumes, expect further setbacks — and maybe not just in Georgia. The foreign workers needed to finish this project and others like it might think twice about signing up, once they understand that it could involve ritualized humiliation and imprisonment.
The president seems to agree that this is not ideal. In a social-media post after the raid, he told foreign investors, “Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people with great technical talent, to build World Class products” — adding, notably, that “we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so.” Read that second part again: According to the president, bringing in the people the US wants to welcome isn’t always legally possible. That’s true. But the solution to this problem isn’t to shackle the very smart people brought in to advance his agenda. What’s required is immigration rules that the country can rationally enforce.
(Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)
As an old-fashioned neoliberal (and an immigrant, to boot), I’m not about to agree with this administration on what approach makes most sense. I’m in favor of free trade that boosts competition and productivity, together with an immigration policy that grows the economy by judiciously expanding the supply of labor and human capital. But even if I agreed with the administration that taxing imports is beautiful and that there are only so many jobs to go around (implying, ridiculously, that every immigrant puts an American out of work), I’d still want to clean up the preposterous mess of US immigration law before attempting to enforce it so strictly.
The Biden administration’s policy of simply admitting people who turn up at the border, as if to erase the distinction between legal and illegal immigration, was both absurd and (shocking as this might seem) unpopular with voters. The country is entitled to choose whom it admits, and the law should indeed be enforced. But for years the US has tacitly accepted a high volume of illegal immigration for the simple reason that employers need the workers. The rapid manufacturing revival that the president envisages will make even greater demands on talents and experience currently in short supply — skills like those of the shackled workers from South Korea.
Far too few visas are issued for skilled workers. The processes are arcane and exhausting. The delays are endless. Indeed, the rules and requirements are often so complex and ambiguous that they represent an affront to the rule of law: They might have been designed to create loopholes and/or infractions for an unduly zealous ICE to chase down.
A simpler, faster, and more accommodating system would advance the president’s agenda. Delivering more ad hoc permissions such as temporary visa-waiver schemes (of the kind that Hyundai appears to have sought) would be better than nothing and might be the likeliest outcome. But better still would be a systematic expansion of H-1B and other (short-term or extendable) visas for workers with valuable skills, together with an enlarged and streamlined program to allow for eventual permanent residency and citizenship.
The main point is so simple that it shouldn’t need saying: It’s very much in US interests — and essential for the president’s industrial-policy purposes — to tell the world that the best, brightest and hardest-working people will continue to be welcomed in the US and enabled to flourish. Telling those workers, including many would-be American patriots, that they’d be wise to look elsewhere is a foolproof formula for national decline.
Add Now!
Last week federal agents descended on an EV-battery plant under construction by Hyundai Motor Co. near Savannah, Georgia. They arrested 475 workers, mostly South Koreans, on suspicion of visa violations, shackling them like dangerous criminals and putting them in detention. They were still there days later, amid protests in Seoul, while the South Korean government negotiated with US authorities over the workers’ release.
The president had sealed Hyundai’s commitment to build the facility in part by threatening South Korea with tariffs of 25% — reduced to 15% in return for investment commitments and other concessions to US interests. On the face of it, rapid completion of the project would have spurred local output and employment, doing its bit to boost manufacturing and make America great again. For the moment, construction is on hold. Once it resumes, expect further setbacks — and maybe not just in Georgia. The foreign workers needed to finish this project and others like it might think twice about signing up, once they understand that it could involve ritualized humiliation and imprisonment.
The president seems to agree that this is not ideal. In a social-media post after the raid, he told foreign investors, “Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people with great technical talent, to build World Class products” — adding, notably, that “we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so.” Read that second part again: According to the president, bringing in the people the US wants to welcome isn’t always legally possible. That’s true. But the solution to this problem isn’t to shackle the very smart people brought in to advance his agenda. What’s required is immigration rules that the country can rationally enforce.
(Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)
As an old-fashioned neoliberal (and an immigrant, to boot), I’m not about to agree with this administration on what approach makes most sense. I’m in favor of free trade that boosts competition and productivity, together with an immigration policy that grows the economy by judiciously expanding the supply of labor and human capital. But even if I agreed with the administration that taxing imports is beautiful and that there are only so many jobs to go around (implying, ridiculously, that every immigrant puts an American out of work), I’d still want to clean up the preposterous mess of US immigration law before attempting to enforce it so strictly.
The Biden administration’s policy of simply admitting people who turn up at the border, as if to erase the distinction between legal and illegal immigration, was both absurd and (shocking as this might seem) unpopular with voters. The country is entitled to choose whom it admits, and the law should indeed be enforced. But for years the US has tacitly accepted a high volume of illegal immigration for the simple reason that employers need the workers. The rapid manufacturing revival that the president envisages will make even greater demands on talents and experience currently in short supply — skills like those of the shackled workers from South Korea.
Far too few visas are issued for skilled workers. The processes are arcane and exhausting. The delays are endless. Indeed, the rules and requirements are often so complex and ambiguous that they represent an affront to the rule of law: They might have been designed to create loopholes and/or infractions for an unduly zealous ICE to chase down.
A simpler, faster, and more accommodating system would advance the president’s agenda. Delivering more ad hoc permissions such as temporary visa-waiver schemes (of the kind that Hyundai appears to have sought) would be better than nothing and might be the likeliest outcome. But better still would be a systematic expansion of H-1B and other (short-term or extendable) visas for workers with valuable skills, together with an enlarged and streamlined program to allow for eventual permanent residency and citizenship.
The main point is so simple that it shouldn’t need saying: It’s very much in US interests — and essential for the president’s industrial-policy purposes — to tell the world that the best, brightest and hardest-working people will continue to be welcomed in the US and enabled to flourish. Telling those workers, including many would-be American patriots, that they’d be wise to look elsewhere is a foolproof formula for national decline.
Add 
as a Reliable and Trusted News Source
as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
