This image is a video provided by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency via DVIDS, and on Thursday, September 4, 2025, employees of a manufacturing plant escorted outside the Hyundai Motor Group electric vehicle factory in Elabel, Georgia.
Corey Bullard/US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency via the Associated Press
Last week’s drastic immigration attack Hyundai Georgia facilities can write about trouble for other businesses as President Donald Trump cracks down on illegal immigration on a massive scale.
The attack in Eravel, Georgia marked the largest single-site execution work in the Department of Homeland Security history, according to special agent Stephen Schrank. Nearly 500 workers, many of whom were Korean citizens, were detained on plants.
The attack was carried out on a site owned by Korean company Hyundai and LG Energy Solutions, and is jointly building a battery manufacturing plant. DHS said the arrested workers are employed by contractors or subcontractors, while Hyundai said none of the detainees are direct employees of the car company. US officials who had a search warrant said the arrested workers were illegally working or living in the country.
White House border Czar Tom Homan said Sunday that the attack was just the beginning of something that comes from the administration.
“We’re going to do more workplace enforcement businesses,” he said. “These companies that hire illegal aliens are undermining the competition to pay US citizens.”
Some reactions to RAID fallout may already be moving.
Hyundai told NBC News Monday morning that most business trips to the US exist, but some trips are subject to internal review.
Tami Overby, a partner at DGA Group Government Relations, said most of the companies she spoke to are waiting to see what the significance of last week’s attacks would be. She also said Trump realizes they face challenges with labor shortages and visa restrictions and believes they may soon provide some relief.
Foreign companies may be reassessing US investment, according to Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic Policy Research. Meanwhile, Trump is trying to increase US investment with his aggressive tariff policy.
“What’s clear is that Hyundai clearly shows the message that if they put the investment here as simple as possible, it’s very uneasy,” he told CNBC. “So I think that has to be a huge warning sign for businesses looking to invest in the US.”
Baker said he believes businesses are trying to replace as much workforce as possible with US citizens, but that could result in high orders depending on people’s skills, labor shortages and other challenges.
For other foreign companies responsible for US operations, Baker said he would not try to expand his domestic footprint to ensure that he is not at risk, even though he will not be completely closed. But he said Trump may raise a red flag with the administration as he could begin to “point his finger” in businesses if foreign investment falls.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said on Tuesday that Trump is grateful for foreign companies investing in the US, but that he wants them to hire American citizens.
“He understands that these companies want to bring in highly skilled and trained workers, especially when they’re creating very niche products like chips, or in this case, when they’re creating very niche products like Georgia, batteries,” says Leavitt. “But the President hopes that these foreign companies will hire American workers and that these foreign workers and American workers will work together to train and teach.”
“Wake Up Call”
The core of this issue has been excluded from many auto companies that set up US facilities to mimic those already working well in their country, said Arun Kumar, a partner at Alixpartners and a managing director who focuses on automotive and industrial practices.
Kumar told CNBC that foreign companies are often reliant on their own countries’ workers at US sites because they are already specially trained.
“The question to ask is what it means from the perspective of a Tier One supplier of automakers,” he said. “I think if these approaches don’t change, it could mean a lot, especially when we stop production.”
Kumar said it was time for the car companies to rethink their playbook. This is often because scenario planning is too slow. Instead, he said it is likely that foreign companies are now focusing on embedding more US workers into the workforce.
Still, the Hyundai attacks have marked a major change for the industry, he said.
“I think this is telling the rest of the automotive industry, “Hey, we’ll start looking at your business to make sure you’re complying with the rules and laws of this country,” Kumar said.
He called last week’s attack a “wake-up call” to many car companies. This usually falls into one of two categories. Companies that didn’t realize there were problems, or companies that were aware of problems but pushed them far.
And the administration’s message is simply putting a more spotlight on what operations companies want to carry out.
“I think the way the automotive industry works will change due to this potential problem that arises from an immigration enforcement perspective,” Kumar said. “But that’s resolved, but there’s no doubt about that.”
Susan Helper, a professor of economics at Case Western University, said the attack would have a “cool effect” on foreign investment and colour, in a way the Trump administration is approaching solving problems.
“There’s not much premium on consistent policy,” Helper said last week that the administration’s actions will send a clear message to foreign companies, hiring and training more American workers.
The Hyundai attack comes days after President Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung held a summit and made Korean companies pledge to make $150 billion in US investments.
South Korea said on Friday it had conveyed “concerns and regrets” to the US embassy, but Trump later said the attacks did not strain relations between the two countries. The South Korean government said it is working to bring citizens back on flights to that country.
“I think you’ve realized that there’s a bipartisan desire to rebuild manufacturing in the US and that, so far, there’s been a realisation that foreign investment is needed here, as much of the cutting-edge knowledge is overseas,” Helper said. “But it appears we want that foreign investment to follow our rules.”
