Perhaps it’s more: couldn’t find workers meeting expectations. There was an urgency to invest in the US but could you really onboard local workers that quickly in building a sophisticated EV battery factory? If we could’ve we would’ve done it ourselves. We turned to a service economy where we thought all we had to be are “knowledge workers” and now we have a manufacturing lag but a desire to have it done yesterday.

1. Many of the construction workers were illegal immigrants.

2. When you are building a factory, you need to send engineers who are already familiar with your technology for various supervisory, training, and consulting tasks. It looks like the US does not have an appropriate visa category for such engineers, at least according to the current interpretation.

The second story is the interesting one, as it reveals a conflict between American policy goals. The US wants to encourage foreign companies to invest in manufacturing in the US, but it's unwilling to change the immigration laws or interpret the existing laws to expedite that.

Edit: L-1B is supposed to be the right visa, but the application process with petitions and interviews is too cumbersome in practice.

From an immigration law firm:

"Citizens of many foreign countries, including most European citizens, may travel as tourists or on business under the U.S. Visa Waiver Program without any formal visa application, and only registration under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is required. Under the program, a European executive may visit a corporate subsidiary or attend a trade fair. Similarly, when specifically required by the purchase contract, technical experts who have to travel to the United States to install, service or repair equipment or machinery sold by a foreign company to a U.S. buyer can travel under the Visa Waiver Program. Travel for technicians and engineers installing foreign-made equipment in the United States is limited to a maximum of 90 days per stay and has to be in performance of a contract of sale of foreign equipment to the United States requiring installation (or repair service under warranty) at the customer site. The installation cannot include construction work, except for supervision or training of U.S. workers to perform construction".

https://www.sgrlaw.com/ttl-articles/foreign-manufacturers-tr...

Presumably the ICE officers applied this test before detaining each of the Hyundai workers.....

Leaked ICE document shows worker detained in Hyundai raid had valid visa - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45197599 - September 2025