US officers tied us up and pointed guns at us, South Korean engineers tell BBC

When Yongjin looked at the window of his office and saw armored trucks and immigration enforcement officers running guns, he was surprised, but he was not worried.

The young Korean was sure that he had nothing to do with him. He was in the United States for only a few weeks on a short -term visa, thought of himself.

Then the armed agents stormed his room and ordered him abroad. They formulated his hands, before tie the chains with the waist and ankles, and carried it on a bus heading to a detention center.

“I felt panic and my mind is empty. I felt the disease.” BBC saidNow return home in South Korea.

“I couldn’t understand why I was treated like this.”

Youngjin is one of more than 300 Korean workers who have been detained in the US state of Georgia earlier this month, in one of the largest immigration raids for Donald Trump’s presidency so far. He and others did not want to interview this article to reveal their real names in order to protect their identity.

American officials initially claimed that the workers were illegally in the country with incorrect visas, but in the end the two sides concluded a deal that allowed them to leave voluntarily without any sanctions, so that they could return to work there in the future.

Most workers in the United States have been temporarily, which helps build a battery for electric cars run by two companies from South Korea, Hyundai and LG – part of the United States paying foreign companies to invest and manufacture more in the states.

LG said that many of its employees who have been arrested have different types of visas or were under the visa waiver program. Thus they were especially shocked by the raid.

“We just went out to spend a short break, and I could see many people and officials with weapons. As Koreans, we thought they were here to arrest criminals, but they suddenly started to arrest us,” said Chul Young, who was also arrested on that day.

He said they tried to explain who they were, but they felt horror: “There were helicopters, drones, armored vehicles … people carrying weapons.”

There were some officers pointing to the weapons to the workers. “You know that red laser that came out of these weapons? It was so shocking that some people were shivering in fear.”

Even those who managed to share their visa details said they were arrested. “I thought everything would be cleared, but instead, they suddenly restricted us,” said Mr. Kim, another worker, who only wanted to reveal his last name.

Chol Young said there were restrictions around his ankles and another about his peasants, connected to handcuffs. “It was very narrow, and I couldn’t touch my face with my hand.”

They all said that they have no idea why this happened, or where they were transferred. “I later learned that I was detained at the Volkson Snow Treatment Center,” added the software engineer. He was planning to stay for about a month, but he was arrested on his sixth day there.

Youngjin, an engineer and subcontractor for LG, was scheduled to be for five weeks to train employees to operate some specialized equipment in the field of technology.

The 30-year-old was shaking, and he was still clearly upset, as he described the BBC, who was transferred to the detention center and closed in a room with 60-70 others.

“I was attacked by panic. I stood there trembling,” he said. He added that the room was freezing, and the new detainees were not given blankets during the first two days.

“I was wearing short sleeves, so I put my arms inside my clothes and drew myself in a towel to try to stay warm at night,” he said. “The worst part was water. It is like a wastewater. We have drank less.”

Chol Young said that all beds were taken with two brackets, by the time when he arrived, leaving him and others to find any empty place to rest, even an empty office where they could put their head.

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During the first few days, Youngjin had no idea about the time it would be held. He was afraid to be months. Only after some workers were able to meet the lawyers and consular staff, did they realize that their government was working with the American authorities to release them.

“Even the American side feels that it might be very far,” South Korea, South Korea, told reporters after returning from the United States. Seoul says she is now investigating potential human rights violations during the raid by the American authorities.

Trump admitted the need to be specialists from American workers abroad, and according to South Korean officials, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landu expressed his “deep remorse” on the accident.

However, relations between the United States and South Korea have rocked, usually close allies, especially as they are seriously related to a commercial deal in which South Korean companies pledged to invest $ 350 billion in the United States.

Mr. Kim believed that his work is permitted through the B -1 visa – and he said it was not logical to the authorities to detain hundreds of people without clarifying their roles in the factory.

Yongine, who was in the United States on a 90 -day visa program, is Egypt that he did nothing illegal. “I only attended the meetings and made training offers,” he said, explaining that this was within the scope of the waiver. “My confidence in the United States was deeply shaken. I don’t think it is a trustworthy partner for South Korea.”

Despite returning with his family, the engineer is still struggling to address what happened to him. When he saw them at the airport after arriving at home on Friday night, he said he smiled and embraced them, but he did not feel anything.

“It was as if I was hollow inside. It was not even my mother to be cheated on that night, he really hit me, and I cried for the first time.”

He only leaves the house for short trends. “When I am outside, if I smell something similar to imprisonment, I start to trembling and become breathing, so I don’t go out for a long time now,” he said.

Chol Young says it is, too, struggling with experience. “We all went out of the arrival gate, but now after I thought about it, I was about to cry,” he says. “Saying this makes me tear.”

Seeing himself in television news reports was not easy. “You can’t see my face, but you can get to know my body. So all my family and friends knew that I was.”

He believes that most workers “have enough” and may not return. But he says he has no choice.

“This is what I have done. I have been doing this 30 years ago. I have put my life in this work.”

“If I am not able to do this, what should I do? How will my family live?”