Hundreds of federal agents It descended on a vast site where Hyundai built electric vehicles in Georgia and detained 475 people. Most of them are Korean citizens.
This is the latest in a long line of workplace raids carried out as part of the Trump administration Large deportation agenda. But Thursday’s one is particularly clear as the fact that its size was so large that it targeted state officials at the manufacturing site has long been called Georgia’s biggest economic development project.
Detention of Korean citizens highlights it as they are not caught up in immigration enforcement compared to other nationalities.
There was something to know about the attack and people were affected.
The worker was detained
Most of the hundreds detained were Korean citizens, but the exact number was not immediately announced.
Some of them worked at a battery plant run by HL-GA Battery Co. HL-GA Battery Co. is a joint venture with HLUNDAI and LG Energy Solution to open next year, and those employed by construction site contractors and subcontractors are according to Steven Schrank, lead Georgia agent in Homeland Security Research.
He said some of the detained workers illegally crossed the US border, while others legally entered the country, but either expired their visas or were in visa exemptions that prohibited them from working.
However, an immigration lawyer representing two of the detained workers said he arrived from South Korea under a visa waiver program that allowed his clients to travel for tourism and business to stay within 90 days without obtaining a visa.
Attorney Charles Cuck added that one of his clients was in the US for several weeks, while the other was in the country for about 45 days, planning to return home soon.
Hyundai Motor Company said in a statement Friday that its employees are not in custody unless anyone knows, and that it is considering practices to ensure that suppliers and subcontractors comply with U.S. employment laws. LG told The Associated Press it could not immediately confirm how many employees or modern workers have been detained.
The South Korean government has expressed “concerns and regrets” about the operation to target citizens and has sent diplomats to the site.
“Our investors’ business activities and citizens’ rights should not be unfairly violated during the course of US law enforcement,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Jaewoong said in a statement aired from Seoul.
Most of the people detained were taken to the Immigration Detention Center in Folkestone, Georgia, near Rhine, Florida. None of them have been charged with a crime yet, Schrank said, but the investigation is ongoing.
RAID is the result of a few months’ survey
The attack was the result of a months-long investigation into illegal employment allegations at the site, Schrank said.
In a search warrant and related affidavit, the agents sought everything from current and previous workers and timecard employment records to workers’ videos and photos.
Court records filed this week showed that prosecutors didn’t know who hired what they called “hundreds of illegal aliens.” “The identity of the actual company or contractor employing illegal foreigners is currently unknown,” the U.S. Lawyer’s Office wrote in a court application Thursday.
A vast manufacturing site
RAID targeted manufacturing sites widely considered to be one of Georgia’s largest and most well-known states.
The Hyundai Motor Group began manufacturing EVS at its $7.6 billion factory a year ago. Today, the site employs around 1,200 people in a rural area about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Savannah.
Particularly polished at an adjacent factory still under construction where Hyundai is partnering with LG Energy Solutions Produces batteries That power EV.
The Hyundai site is located in Brian County, with its population growing more than a quarter in the early 2020s, reaching nearly 47,000 residents in 2023. According to Census Bureau figures, the county’s Asian population has grown from 1.5% in 2018 to 2.2% in 2023, with growth being primarily among people of Indian descent.
RAID was “the largest single-site execution operation.”
from farm Additionally, workplace raids that took place during this administration have been widely carried out at construction sites on restaurants and auto repair shops. However, most of them were attacked on the same day as Georgia officials. It took dozens of workers From a snack bar maker in Cato, New York.
Other recent prominent raids include one in July that targeted legal marijuana farms in northwest Los Angeles. More 360 people have been arrested It has been one of the biggest attacks since Trump took office in January. Another thing was done at An Omaha. Nebraska, meat production plant And dozens of workers were taken away.
Schrank described it as the “largest single-site executive project” in Georgia’s two histories.
Most of the people detained are Koreans. During the 12-month period ended September 30, 2024, only 46 Koreans were deported out of more than 270,000 removals of all nationalities, according to immigration and customs enforcement.
Community members and supporters have mixed reactions
Kemp and other Georgia Republican officials courted Hyundai and celebrated the opening of the EV plant, but issued a statement on Friday saying that all employers in the state are expected to follow the law.
Asian American, a nonprofit legal advocacy group that advances Atlanta Justice, described the joint statement raid as “unacceptable.”
“Our community knows that Hyundai-oriented workers are everyday people who want to support their families, build stronger communities and work towards a better future,” the statement said.
Sammy Lenz said he is worried that the business may not be bounced after opening a supermarket in Bet Huong, less than three miles (4.8 km) from the Hyundai site six months ago and has fallen sharply since the attack.
“I’m worried. Koreans are very proud. They must not understand what just happened.
Tanya Cox, a resident of Erabell, who lives within a mile of the Hyundai site, said she has no malicious intentions towards Korean citizens or other migrant workers. However, few neighbours were employed there, and she felt that more construction work should go to locals at the battery factory.
“I don’t know how they brought so much work to our community and nearby communities,” Cox said.
