The Southern Workers Assembly roundly condemns the unnecessary, wasteful, and cruel raid conducted by Homeland Security,ICE, and numerous other police agencies Thursday, September 4 at the Hyundai Metaplant outside Savannah, Georgia. The raid on Hyundai was one of the largest in U.S. history.
HYPOCRISY ON STEROIDS
The US government, while mouthing platitudes about supporting the working class, continues its cruel and hypocritical anti-worker, anti-family actions and policies.
While snatching close to 500 workers away from their work stations, they snatched the very people contributing to their families and society. The money spent on this and other ICE raids would be better spent on childcare, Medicare and Medicaid, affordable housing, on inspectors to ensure workplace safety.
MAJOR SAFETY ISSUES: WHERE WERE THE FEDS THEN?
There have been 5 deaths this year at this 3,000 acre mega-worksite that houses the main assembly building and two other facilities, LG and Mobis, that supply the assembly plant with batteries and parts. One accident was so gruesome the worker was decapitated. Where were the federal agencies of occupational health & safety then? If resources were put into the National Labor Relations Board, instead of goon squads, perhaps the 5 families who lost their loved ones would not be grieving.
The recently passed federal spending bill – known as the “Big Beautiful Bill” – will increase funding for immigration enforcement by a staggering $170 billion, making ICE the highest funded police agency and larger than many countries’ military budgets. This is while the bill will also slash coverage and funding for Medicaid, Social Security, EBT, and other social programs that will face the largest cuts since their creation.
SHERIFFS INSIDE THE PLANT
The State of Georgia doesn’t get off the hook either. Gov. Brian Kemp pledges continued cooperation with the federal and local government. Bryan Co. deputy sheriffs have been walking the floor inside the plant for weeks. Homeland Security made it seem as if workers were ratting on each other, when, perhaps, sheriffs may have been the source of information. Who wants to work under police guard?
WORKER SOLIDARITY, COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Workers inside and outside Hyundai are expressing solidarity with the workers, saying whichever nationality the workers were, they were trying to put food on the table, just like themselves. A dockworker commented on the huge amount of wasteful spending this raid cost of taxpayers’ money.
Support is being gathered by Migrant Equity South East (MESE) as well as organizations in the Korean community.
CRUEL & USUAL PUNISHMENT
Cruelty is the name of the game. As many workers are saying, including Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, paraphrasing: What’s it like to see mommy & daddy go off to work, and children come back home, and mommy and daddy not come home, and you don’t know where they are. This administration intentionally using cruelty as a tool. As many many Black workers know all too well, the separation of families is cruel, and in the case of current US immigration policy, usual punishment.
