Hundreds Arrested in Immigration Raid at Hyundai Site in Georgia

Nearly 500 people were arrested as part of an immigration raid at a Hyundai Motor battery plant under construction in Georgia as part of a criminal investigation into employment practices at the site, a Homeland Security official said Friday.

The operation Thursday resulted in the arrest of 475 individuals. More than 300 were South Korean nationals, according to an official from the country.

Those arrested had illegally crossed the border, entered through a visa waiver program that prohibited them from working or had overstayed their visas, Steven Schrank, a special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta, said at a press conference Friday morning.

“This was the largest single site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security investigations,” Schrank said.

No criminal charges were filed as of Friday, he said, and the investigation remains ongoing.

“Those who exploit our workforce, undermine our economy, and violate our federal laws will be held accountable,” Schrank said. Schrank said the government’s investigation has been ongoing for months.

The carmaker has pledged $26 billion in U.S. investments in recent weeks.

South Korea protested the action to the U.S. and said it was trying to secure the release of its citizens.

“This was not an immigration operation where agents went into the premises, rounded up folks and put them on buses,” Schrank said. “This has been a multimonth criminal investigation where we have developed evidence, conducted interviews, gathered documents, and presented that evidence to the court in order to obtain a judicial search warrant.”

A search warrant in the case was issued Aug. 31, according to a court filing. The government filed a motion to unseal a redacted version of the warrant Friday, and a judge granted the request. A copy of the warrant wasn’t immediately available.

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Investigators are continuing to look at which company employed each of the individuals, Schrank said, but he noted a network of subcontractors worked at the site.

The raid and arrests come after months of tense negotiations between the U.S. and South Korea over tariffs and investment. In late July, the two countries agreed that a 15% tariff rate would be imposed on South Korean imports in exchange for South Korea investing $350 billion in the U.S.

The factory is being built by a joint venture between South Korea-based Hyundai Motor and a South Korean battery manufacturer, LG Energy Solution. The plant is located in the town of Ellabell, near Savannah, Ga., and is part of a $7.6 billion Hyundai complex that the state has described as the largest manufacturing project in Georgia’s history.

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Among those detained at the factory were South Korean employees of LG Energy Solution who were traveling for business. Hyundai Motor said it believed that it didn’t directly employ any of those detained. LG Energy said Friday it was cooperating with the South Korean government and relevant authorities to ensure the employees’ safety and secure their prompt release from detention.

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South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday expressed regret at the detention of Korean nationals at the Georgia site and said it had conveyed its concerns to the U.S. Embassy.

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