Raphael Rashid Profile picture
Seoul-based freelance journalist. 라파엘 라시드 | 프리랜서 기자 | '우리가 보지 못한 대한민국' 저자 | 서울 거주. raphael@rashid.kr / koryodynasty@proton.me

Sep 16, 14 tweets

1/ Shocking new testimonies reveal systematic torture-like abuse at Georgia ICE facility on Korean workers: pregnant woman fearing for unborn child, handcuff burns, forced medical injections without consent, and staff neglecting workers having seizures and medical collapses.

2/ Yonhap News TV obtained exclusive photos showing a Korean worker's wrist from the Georgia detention facility. The images reveal clear red burn marks caused by handcuffs/cable ties. Worker testified that "quite a few people" suffered similar injuries. yonhapnewstv.co.kr/news/MYH202509…

3/ Testimonies also reveal forced medical procedures. One worker claims that during health checks before formal facility admission, despite refusing all tests, facility staff forcibly administered a tuberculosis injection against their will.

4/ "After receiving the jab, my skin swelled up and I was very anxious." Another said: "I remember a friend among us whose arm swelled up after getting injected. He said he didn't know what it was and got the shot. He said they stabbed him with a needle in upper left wrist area."

5/ Medical emergencies were allegedly ignored by facility staff. A worker collapsed due to worsening chronic sleep disorders, with symptoms deteriorating during detention, eventually leading to serious breathing difficulties. Staff apparently just watched, did nothing.

6/ Meanwhile, MBC revealed that a pregnant Korean engineer was among those detained in what she describes as torture-like conditions. She was working on computer tasks in the factory office when ICE agents forcibly took her away without explanation.

7/ The pregnant engineer held a legal B1 visa specifically for battery equipment installation work. She was scheduled to return to Korea this very week after completing her assigned work at the facility. imnews.imbc.com/replay/2025/nw…

8/ She was arrested on charges of illegal residence and held in the detention facility in a red prison uniform. She testified: "I appealed that my visa was still valid, but they didn't even pretend to listen."

9/ Detention conditions were horrific: over 30 people were crammed into a single room with just 3 sinks and 4 toilets in an open area. Privacy was non-existent, creating degrading conditions for female detainees "who were menstruating".

10/ When she informed guards she was pregnant, they only responded that she *would be* moved to "a room with slightly better conditions". She witnessed another female detainee having seizures and being neglected, fearing for her own unborn child should a medical emergency happen.

11/ "I really thought they were going to kill someone, and I was terrified," she said. "I was so shocked that I wasn't having morning sickness anymore and worried something had happened to my baby."

12/ Food was apparently completely inedible. "Even the bread smelled bad and sour," she said. "I couldn't eat it."

13/ Only after returning to South Korea and getting checked at a hospital could she finally breathe a sigh of relief when she learned that her baby was healthy. She says she has nightmares every night now, and "really wants to sue... in the country of lawsuits".

14/ South Korea's foreign ministry has announced it will investigate these abuse cases and will raise issues with the US if necessary. The mounting physical evidence and testimonies paint a picture of systematic human rights violations at the ICE facility.

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