Nearly 500 workers were detained this week in a massive immigration raid at Hyundai’s electric vehicle plant in Georgia, marking the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials confirmed that 475 people were taken into custody at the 3,000-acre facility, which opened just a year ago. Among those detained, about 300 were South Korean nationals.
South Korea’s foreign ministry expressed “concern and regret” over the arrests, urging Washington to respect the rights of Korean citizens and pledging to send diplomats to Georgia. Officials in Seoul said they had also contacted the U.S. embassy to stress that the “economic activities of Korean investment companies and the rights and interests of Korean citizens must not be unfairly infringed upon.”
The Department of Homeland Security said the operation was the result of a months-long investigation into alleged unlawful employment practices and other serious crimes. Homeland Security special agent Steve Schrank emphasized that the raid was not a random immigration sweep but a carefully planned search backed by a judicial warrant.
President Donald Trump defended the operation, saying ICE “was just doing its job.” Speaking from the Oval Office, he added: “They were illegal aliens and ICE was just doing what it’s supposed to do. We want a stable workforce, but a lot of these workers came in illegally.”
The large-scale raid underscores the tension between Trump’s two key priorities, boosting U.S. manufacturing and cracking down on illegal immigration. Hyundai’s Georgia plant, hailed by Governor Brian Kemp as the biggest economic development project in the state’s history, employs around 1,200 people. Despite the arrests, Hyundai said production at the site had not been affected. Its partner, LG Energy Solutions, briefly paused construction work at the plant following the raid.
Hyundai issued a statement saying it was “closely monitoring the situation,” adding that it understood none of the detained workers were directly employed by the company. Many are believed to have been hired through subcontractors.
Videos circulating online showed federal agents lining up workers and informing them of the search warrant. Some employees were questioned on site before being transported to a detention facility in Folkston, Georgia. Authorities are now determining next steps, including possible deportations.
The raid adds strain to U.S.–South Korea relations at a time when Korean companies have pledged billions in U.S. investments to avoid tariffs and strengthen industrial ties. It also signals the Trump administration’s renewed aggressive stance on immigration enforcement in his second term.
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