A South Korean worker who returned home after days of detention in U.S. immigration raid has recounted details of human rights violations, saying a U.S. official laughed at the worker in a scornful manner during interrogation, among other inhumane treatment.
The worker, who declined to be identified, shared a personal log of the ordeal with Yonhap News Agency after returning home Friday along with 329 others, including 16 foreigners, who had been arrested in the raid at the site jointly run by Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution on Sept. 4.
The worker managed to record the ordeal during detention by secretly taking pen and paper provided to them to fill out documents.
According to the worker, who arrived in the United States on a B-1 visa, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided the site at 10 a.m. before searching them and handing them with a “Warrant for Arrest for Alien.”
The worker recounted they were not informed of their Miranda rights and could not properly examine the documents due to the intimidating atmosphere.
“We handed in the papers thinking that we would be released after filling them out,” the worker said, noting the agents then forced them to put their mobile phones and other belongings in a bag.
The worker managed to secretly send phone messages to his family and company that it would be difficult to keep in contact.
After more than a nine-hour wait, the workers boarded a convoy handcuffed with zip ties, while some others were shackled around their waist, legs and wrists.
When the workers arrived at their destination, they were initially cramped into five 72-person detention rooms.
There were bunk beds with mold growing on the mattresses, four toilets and two urinals, but no clocks or windows to see outside. The worker noted it was difficult to use the toilet due to the crowded space and refrained from using it during the stay.
The room was so cold that workers draped themselves with towels, and some put them in a microwave to warm them up. The water they were provided with had a bad smell, and they were later given toothpaste, toothbrushes, blankets and deodorant.
This photo, provided by a worker who was detained in a U.S. immigration raid in Georgia, Sept. 4, shows a personal log of the worker’s experience at a detention facility in the United States. Yonhap
On the third day of detention, the workers were handed documents on their “voluntary leave,” which they signed despite concerns over its content.
ICE agents then interviewed the worker, with the person explaining the purpose of the visit to the country as a work trip for business meetings and education in line with the B-1 visa for temporary business visitors.
When asked about where the worker was from, the person replied South Korea, to which the agents smiled and talked among themselves, making remarks about “North Korea” and “rocket man,” apparently referring to U.S. President Donald Trump’s past moniker for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“I was angry that they seemed to be making fun of me, but kept my temper because I was worried about what could happen to my documents,” the worker wrote in the log.
The worker questioned the agents about the reasons for the detention, citing the B-1 visa.
This photo, provided by a worker who was detained in a U.S. immigration raid in Georgia, Sept. 4, shows a warrant shown by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during the raid. Yonhap
One of the ICE agents said they did not know but noted their higher-ups thought it was illegal. Some of the other agents reportedly told another detainee that ICE had made mistakes.
The next day, South Korean consulate and foreign ministry officials visited the facility, urging the workers to sign documents they were given, claiming they would be detained for months if not years if they refused to.
The worker expressed frustration with the officials, who appeared to not know why arrivals on a B-1 visa were illegal, noting the officials appeared to only be focused on returning them home.
That day, the worker was also assigned to a two-person room after completing entry procedures. As there were many detained, some of them only stayed at the 72-person room during the weeklong detention.
Finally in the early hours of Thursday, the workers boarded a bus to leave the facility before arriving in South Korea on a chartered Korean Air flight the next day.
English 
