SAVANSA, Ga. (AP) — Lawyers for several workers detained at Georgia’s Hyundai factory say many of the Koreans, who concluded with the immigrant raid, are engineers and equipment installers brought in for the highly specialized work to get the battery factory online.
Charles Kak, an immigration lawyer in Atlanta, told the Associated Press on Monday on behalf of four Korean citizens in custody, many people are doing approved jobs under the B-1 Business Visitors Visa Program. They had planned to be in the US for just a few weeks, saying “it won’t be more than 75 days longer,” he said.
“The majority of individuals detained by US immigration and customs enforcement agencies who were Koreans were there as engineers or involved in after-sales service and installation,” Kak said.
Thursday’s attack in Battery Factory Under construction at Hyundai’s vast automobile factory west of Savannah, 475 workers have been detained and more than 300 Koreans have been detained. In some videos released by US immigrants and customs enforcement, they were shown to be tied up by chains, ankles and hips around their hands.
This image from a video provided by the US immigration and customs enforcement agency via DVIDS shows employees (Corey Bullard/US immigration and customs enforcement agency) waiting to tie their legs at the Hyundai Motor Group electric vehicle factory in Eravel, Georgia on Thursday, September 4, 2025.
South Korea expects to bring detainees home
South Korean Foreign Minister flew to the US on Monday to secure citizen returns on charter flights South Korea, Many people express their confusion, shock and betrayal.
AP Audio: Koreans feel betrayed by workforce control at Georgia Hyundai factory
Speaking to reporters, Homeland Security Secretary Christa Noem says the Hyundai plant attack will send a clear signal.
President Donald Trump said the workers were “illegally here.” Instead, the US, along with other countries, needs to train professionals to train US citizens to do professional jobs such as batteries and computer manufacturing.
But immigration lawyer Kak said that since the US company did not make machines used in Georgia’s battery plants, they had to come from overseas to install or repair equipment on-site.
South Korean Foreign Minister Chong will listen to lawmakers’ questions during a session at the Foreign Affairs Unification Committee held at the National Assembly Building in Seoul, South Korea on Monday, September 8, 2025.
“This is nothing new,” Cuck said. “We’ve been doing this forever. We’re doing it. When we ship things overseas, we send people out there to take care of them.”
Japanese and Germans did that too, they create our work
Neither government has given details on all workers’ visas, but it’s not uncommon for foreign companies to save time and money by establishing US factories for workers from overseas and train US workers, said Rosemary Coates, executive director of the Reshoring Institute, a nonprofit that encourages US manufacturing.
“When I saw the same thing happening in the ’80s, Japanese carmakers set up US factories and were there in the ’90s with German carmakers,” she said.
Business Visa B-1 visitors allow foreign workers to stay for up to six months, reimbursing expenses while repaying their wages home. There are restrictions – for example, you can oversee a construction project, but you can’t build anything yourself, but you can install the equipment if it’s spelled in a contract, said Angelo Paparelli, a Los Angeles immigration lawyer.
South Korea is also one of 41 countries, allowing citizens to use US electronic systems for travel approval (ESTA). This will provide a visa waiver if you can provide “just a reason” for your visit, which essentially provides B-1 visa status for up to 90 days, said Los Angeles immigration lawyer Rita Sotolin.
Rights advocates are seeking the release of workers in Georgia
Supporters called for the release of detained workers at a press conference Monday at Savannah Church, about 25 miles east of the site where Hyundai began producing electric vehicles a year ago.
They included Sarah Park, president of the Korean American Union of Atlanta. He also said that many of the detained Korean workers have the special skills needed to run the battery factory.
This image from a video provided by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement via DVIDS shows manufacturing plant employees being escorted outside the Hyundai Motor Group electric vehicle factory on Thursday, September 4, 2025 in Eravel, Georgia (Corey Bullard via the AP/US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency)
Daniela Rodriguez, executive director of Migrant Equity Southeast, said immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela were also in custody. She said the group’s Savannah office was flooded with calls from families of workers who were unable to reach and believed to be in detention.
Even some workers who were not detained feel unsafe about returning to their work on the site, she said.
Rodriguez said workers saw armed agents and military-style vehicles during the attack, but said the drones and helicopters rose above their heads. A woman with a work permit and not in custody told her: “It felt like we were being pursued as animals.
Labour leaders accused Hyundai of abuse of work rules
The Savannah Labour Union leader said local unions complained that Hyundai and its contractors were inappropriately using Korean workers for basic construction outside of the visa exemption regulations.
Christy Furum, chairman of the Savannah Regional Central Labor Council, said the unions, part of her council, believe Korean workers are pouring cement, building steel, carpentering and fitting pipes.
“Essentially, our labor was given to illegal immigrants,” Halme said.
A spokesperson for the Georgia EV Factory in Hyundai and adjacent battery plant did not immediately reply to an email message seeking comment.
Korean politicians have been shaken
Many lawmakers appeared before departing for legislative hearings that mourn American operations, and Foreign Minister Jo Hyun called the attack by a close South Korean alliance “a very serious problem.”
“If US authorities detain hundreds of Koreans in this way like military operations, will Korean companies investing in the US continue to invest properly in the future?” said Jeongsik, a liberal governing Democrat.
Some lawmakers have called for a retaliation investigation into Americans allegedly working illegally in South Korea.
Experts say that RAID is likely not to encourage key measurement measures, taking into account how much amount The country relies on the US for security Possibility of deterrence north korea Other scope of cooperation, including aggression and business ties.
Many Koreans are unsure
This was the biggest workplace raid for the Homeland Security Agency, but it is still pursuing. Large deportation agendaand it targeted Georgia – a symbol of bilateral cooperation run by many large Korean companies and planning future investments. Just a few weeks ago, South Korea promised hundreds of millions of people to invest in US investments to reach tariff contracts. Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held them First Summit In Washington on August 25th.
“The way Trump is putting pressure on the South Korean government and causing harm to the people is very rough and one-sided,” said Kim Tae-wao, former chief of the Korea Unification Institute in Seoul. “Is this easily forgotten in Korea? From a long-term perspective, it would not be good for the US national interest either.”
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Blumbak reported that he reported from Atlanta and Hyunjin Kim from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press journalists Kim Dong-hyun of Seoul, Jeff Amy of Atlanta, and Paul Wiseman of Washington, DC, also contributed.
