Hundreds detained at Georgia's top economic development project as immigration crackdown collides with U.S. manufacturing push

"Immigration authorities said Friday they detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals, when hundreds of federal agents raided the sprawling manufacturing site in Georgia where Korean automaker Hyundai makes electric vehicles. Steven Schrank, the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Security Investigations, said during a news conference Friday that the raid resulted from a monthslong investigation into allegations of illegal hiring at the site and was the "largest single site enforcement operation" in the agency's two-decade history."

"The Thursday raid targeted one of Georgia's largest and most high-profile manufacturing sites, where Hyundai Motor Group a year ago began manufacturing electric vehicles at a $7.6 billion plant. The site employs about 1,200 people in an area about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Savannah where bedroom communities bleed into farms. Gov. Brian Kemp and other officials have touted it as the state's largest economic development project."

"Court records filed this week indicated that prosecutors do not know who hired what it called "hundreds of illegal aliens." The identity of the "actual company or contractor hiring the illegal aliens is currently unknown," the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote in a Thursday court filing. The South Korean government expressed "concern and regret" over the operation targeting its citizens. Koreans are rarely caught up in immigration enforcement compared to other nationalities. Only 46 Koreans were deported during the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, 2024, out of more than 270,000 removals for all nationalities, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement."

Immigration authorities detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals, after hundreds of federal agents raided a Georgia manufacturing site where Hyundai makes electric vehicles. The raid followed a monthslong investigation into alleged illegal hiring and was called the largest single-site enforcement operation in the agency's history. Agents focused on an adjacent battery plant under construction in partnership with LG Energy Solution. Prosecutors said they do not know which company or contractor hired the workers. The $7.6 billion plant employs about 1,200 people roughly 25 miles west of Savannah and has been touted as a major economic development project. The South Korean government expressed concern and regret, and data show Koreans are rarely deported compared with other nationalities.

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