Some 150,000 Koreans living in the United States are reportedly subject to deportations ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a local news report.

Summary

A report indicates that roughly 150,000 Korean nationals in the U.S. are subject to deportations ordered by Donald Trump, among 14 million migrants overall.

Among those, 20,000 Korean adoptees remain without citizenship, intensifying community fears and concern over harsh immigration policies amid escalating anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Kim Dong-suk, head of the grassroots group, described Trump’s return as a disaster for Koreans, urging collective action among U.S. leaders and migrant groups.

  • PikaEnglish
    16•15 hours ago

    So does this mean that there are 20,000 Koreans listed that are registered for citizenship but are just stuck in processing, and the remaining 120,000 are here illegally? If so I can see why they are deporting the 120,000 but, I don’t understand why they are deporting the 20,000 as if they are here legally they should have visas showing their status of being here.

    • @AWistfulNihilist
      23•14 hours ago

      There’s a really fucked up issue in Korean adoption that was fixed a while back. Basically, once a parent finished the process and had custody of the child in the US, the parent needed to do an additional bit of paperwork to give the child US citizenship.

      They closed the loophole a long time ago, but many(20 fucking thousand potentially) adult adoptees don’t even know their parents didn’t bother to finish the process.

      Now the Korean international adoption processes is mostly closed, cause it was an exploitive nightmare that was more like selling babies than anything.

      And yeah the other are just people overstaying a visa, or stayed past the point of needing a visa. 90 days.

    • @kryptonianCodeMonkey
      25•15 hours ago

      The options are not “seeking citizenship” and “here illegally”. Most of those people are here on student visas or work visas of one kind of another.

      • PikaEnglish
        6•14 hours ago

        That’s understandable I forgot about work/student non-immigrant visa’s, these still fall under a legal visa, I don’t understand why people with legal visas are being the target. They are in the country legally, there shouldn’t be any grounds for deportation for those. Being said after looking into it, it doesn’t seem like they need a reason to deport valid visa holders, which is screwed up honestly.

        • @kryptonianCodeMonkey
          9•13 hours ago

          They have already announced plans to deport the Haitians in Springfield that are here legally too. I don’t know why anyone is shocked by this.

    • @Limonene
      13•15 hours ago

      It seems unlikely to me that there are 120k or 130k South Koreans in the United States without legal immigration status. They probably have visas that can be revoked more easily.

      • PikaEnglish
        7•14 hours ago

        I did a little research on this, and this is insane. The current legal code (8 USC 1201(i)) states

        After the issuance of a visa or other documentation to any alien, the consular officer or the Secretary of State may at any time, in his discretion, revoke such visa or other documentation.

        and to top it off, it also contains at the end

        There shall be no means of judicial review (including review pursuant to section 2241 of title 28 or any other habeas corpus provision, and sections 1361 and 1651 of such title) of a revocation under this subsection, except in the context of a removal proceeding if such revocation provides the sole ground for removal under section 1227(a)(1)(B) of this title.

        This sounds like it means that if there is any type of other thing happening (such as an accusation that you broke the law or are here illegally), they can just say “ok visa revoked get out” with very limited possibility to a legal review

        I can understand that being the case for actual criminals but, that seems super extreme.

        Being said though, 9 FAM 403.11 is the declassified guidelines that it seems officials are supposed to use, and those state:

        • (1) Unavailable
        • (2) (U) The individual is not eligible for the visa classification (this includes ineligibility under INA 214(b));
        • (3) (U) The visa has been physically removed from the passport in which it was issued; or
        • (4) (U) The individual is subject to an IDENT Watchlist record in System Messages for an arrest or conviction of driving under the influence, driving while intoxicated, or similar arrests/convictions (DUI) that occurred within the previous five years, pursuant to 9 FAM 403.11-5(B) paragraph c, below.

        Overall, that’s fucked.

    • FiveMacs
      8•15 hours ago

      I’m assuming it’s because they aren’t white, which is a sad thing to say/think.

      • @pdxfed
        8•13 hours ago

        Racism, in the United States? Stay it ain’t so!