Worker at Hyundai Plant Protest Denounces Immigration Raid
On September 6 a demonstration was organized at the Hyundai plant in Georgia to defend the hundreds of workers detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Below is a speech given by a worker at the action.
Thursday
[September 4] was the biggest raid in ICE history. Almost 500 people
were kidnapped inside this very factory. In a brutal instance, nearly
half of the workforce was abducted and held without due process. Shame!
At least 300 of these workers are Koreans like myself. Many of them
were
green card holders as well. But a green card did not protect
[pro-Palestinian student] Mahmoud Khalil, and a green card didn't
protect these workers.
It is the people who protect each other. It is the workers who protect each other. It is us, the workers of this country, who will resist this cruel, racist system.
[This raid] is no surprise. Korea is a country that has been under U.S. occupation for the last 70 years. The U.S. has 75 military bases on stolen Korean land. Imperialism is trying to hollow [out] the Korean economy for the U.S. corporations that fled the States in the 1980s for mega profits at the expense of cheap Korean labor.
Three workers have died at this plant since it opened. One of them being a 67-year-old Korean man that shouldn't have been toiling away in a U.S. factory. He should have been at home, comfortably retired, happily surrounded by a loving family. His death was because the bosses didn't want to pay to provide appropriate safety equipment.
Immigrant workers are workers just like us. Their pain is our pain. Their safety is our safety. Their struggle is our struggle. If we want better wages, better protections, expanded and solidified rights, then we must stand together shoulder to shoulder with our immigrant siblings.
We must fight with them. Advocate with them and protect them.
One Struggle, One Fight, All Unite for Workers' Rights!
This article was published in
Volume 55 Number 36 - September 11, 2025
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/Articles/TS55366.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca