Who said anything about excusing crime? At least dozens of valid visa holders were caught in the dragnet, some appear to have been in a gray area as to what they were allowed to do(the "strawman" in question), and some were truly sub-sub contracted illegals. The latter could have been apprehended without all the spectacle, and the grey area could've been dealt with tactfully without offending our ally, like, "hey you're only allowed to attend stakeholder meetings and not actually touch anything. Consider this your warning".
I'm less sympathetic to "the law is the law" because of the historical context of what's happening.
The person I was replying to. Did we read the same comment? His argument was that the US is wrong to deport Hyundai workers here without legal visas since in his mind, an Apple worker from the story in the book he read, also didn't have legal visa to travel to China on a whim, even though his argument is 100% bogus since the Apple worker most definitely have a visa for that, and even so, two wrongs don't make a right.
>I'm less sympathetic to "the law is the law" because of the historical context of what's happening.
Careful with such arguments that apply selective enforcement based on the political climate you sympathize with(or not), as others will apply the same judgment to you when you'll get caught and they'll be in power.
After 'negotiations' by South Korea, which, going by the historical pattern, almost certainly means Trump holding those people hostage while demanding incoherent concessions from the South Korean government.
Ok I see where the confusion was. The point of comparison was not somebody with no visa at all going to China.
An early 2000s US employee with a valid multi-entry business visa (i.e type M), flying to China on short notice and doing hands on work that goes beyond simple meetings is what is directly comparable to what happened to some Koreans on B1s in Georgia.
If the goal is to encourage more investment in the US for the purposes of developing industry here, then I believe the way this law was enforced was not tactful and dissuades other investments. If allies feel they are forced to do this(and not just wantonly breaking the law just because) then perhaps it's a sign that we're not doing enough to facilitate these investments.
If they come down too hard on Hyundai it doesnt guarantee this factory will go to 100% Americans, there may not even be a factory!
