OPINION:
“Hyundai immigration raid shows perils of foreign investment on U.S. soil” (Web, Sept. 8) runs counter to the words of Alexander Hamilton in his 1791 report to Congress, when he said that “the introduction of foreign capital” can “put in motion a greater quantity of productive labor and a greater portion of useful enterprise than could exist without it.”
Fact: 475 migrants, 300 of them South Koreans, were arrested at the recent plant raid for illegal entry into the country, or having violated conditions in business B-1 or B-2 visas that they are not allowed to work in the U.S., but only to attend business conferences and such.
The Times article does not make clear that, as has been reported by other sources, the 475 people were working with a contractor and a subcontractor, not Hyundai itself, building facilities for batteries to be produced for the car manufacturer and two other automakers.
Hyundai has 4,500 employees making in the U.S. what would otherwise be imported.
THOMAS J. PIERPOINT SR.
Lake Ridge, Virginia
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