A banner depicting President Donald Trump is seen at the arrival terminal of the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea, on Friday. (AP photo)

INCHEON, South Korea — More than 300 South Korean workers detained during an immigration raid in the United States returned home on a charter plane on Friday to be reunited with their loved ones.

They were among the 475 people detained during the Sept. 4 immigration raid at a battery factory under construction on the campus of Hyundai’s sprawling auto plant west of Savannah, Georgia.

Their roundup and the U.S. release of video showing some Korean workers shackled with chains around their hands, ankles and waists have caused public outrage and a sense of betrayal in South Korea, a key U.S. ally.

After the Boeing 747-8i Korean Air plane landed at Incheon International Airport, near Seoul, the workers appeared in an arrivals hall, with senior officials including presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik clapping hands.

Hundreds of journalists gathered at the airport to cover their arrival, while many ordinary citizens shouted “Welcome back!” One worker, apparently responding to the greeting, called out “I’m back! I’m free!” as he hurried toward the airport gate.

One protester unfurled a huge banner with a photo of U.S. President Donald Trump and a sarcastic message criticizing U.S. immigration crackdowns, before security officials forced him to stop.

Relatives relieved

Friday’s flight was carrying 330 people who were detained in the Georgia raid — 316 of them were South Koreans, including a pregnant woman, and the rest are Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian workers. They had been held at an immigration detention center in Folkston, 285 miles southeast of Atlanta.

Families waited anxiously in a multi-level parking lot near the airport terminal. As the elevator doors opened, each group of workers stepped out to hurried embraces from their relatives.

Hwang In-song, the brother of one worker, told The Associated Press he had been unable to reach his sibling until midnight Thursday, when he finally received a text message from his brother saying he was safe. He said the past week was “the hardest time” for their family.

“We asked him if he was okay health-wise, and he said he was in good health. We didn’t get to talk much because he was about to board the plane,” Hwang said.

Departure was halted

South Korea said Sunday it had reached an agreement with the U.S. for the Korean workers’ releases.

The South Korean government originally sought to bring them back home on Thursday, but said the plan was shelved due to a reason involving the U.S. side. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry later said Trump had halted the departure process to hear from South Korea on whether the Koreans should be allowed to stay to continue their work and help train U.S. workers or should be sent back to South Korea.

South Korean officials said that one South Korean national who has relatives in the U.S. eventually chose to stay in the U.S.

The battery plant, a joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, is one of more than 20 major industrial sites that South Korean companies are currently building in the United States.

Calls for change in US visa system

U.S. authorities said some of the detained Korean workers had illegally crossed the U.S. border, while others entered legally but had expired visas or entered on visa waivers that prohibited them from working.

But South Korean officials say the U.S. has yet to adequately respond to their long-standing request to improve the visa system for skilled Korean workers, even as Washington urges Seoul to expand U.S. industrial investments.

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Hyung-jin Kim reported from Seoul.