Hyundai factory workers face deportation amid ICE raid
One of the world’s largest car companies has been caught up in America's biggest workplace immigration raid, with hundreds of employees arrested.
South Korean workers who were detained during an immigration raid at the Hyundai factory in Georgia will be released and flown home as part of a deal struck between South Korea and the United States.
On Thursday (local time), some 475 workers – more than 300 of them South Korean nationals – were detained following the largest single-site enforcement operations carried out by Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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According to Steven Schrank, a special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations, the arrests were part of an ongoing, months-long investigation that involved multiple federal agencies.
Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff for South Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung, said that South Korea and the US had finalised negotiations on the workers’ release.
South Korea plans to send a charter plane to bring the workers home as soon as the remaining administrative steps are completed.
The agreement comes at a delicate time for relations between Washington and Seoul, a key ally and investor in the US.
The country’s leaders held cordial talks for the first time last month, amid strained negotiations over tariffs and business investments.
The countries have been at odds over the details of a trade deal that includes $350 billion of investments.
At a summit last month, South Korea pledged $150 billion in US investments – including $26 billion from Hyundai Motor.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry Cho Hyun issued a statement to express “concern and regret” over the case and sent diplomats to the site.
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“We are deeply concerned and feel a heavy sense of responsibility over the arrests of our nationals,” Cho was quoted by South Korea’s Yonhap News.
“We will discuss sending a senior Foreign Ministry official to the site without delay, and, if necessary, I will personally travel to Washington to hold consultations with the US administration.”
Video released by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Saturday showed a caravan of vehicles driving up to the site and then federal agents directing workers to line up outside.
Hundreds of workers wearing yellow vests with “Hyundai” and “LG CNS” stood in front of a building before being taken to an immigration detention centre in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida state line.
The plant where the raid took place represents a significant future investment in the US.
In 2023, Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp called the plant “the largest project in state history.”
The factory, which is still under construction, serves as a hub for Hyundai’s partnership with LG Energy Solution to produce batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs).
This plant is expected to employ up to 8,500 people upon completion.
In a response to a reporter’s question during an event at the White House, Donald Trump remarked, “I would say that they were illegal aliens, and ICE was just doing its job.”
On Truth Social, Trump demanded that all foreign companies “respect our nation’s immigration laws” following the raid at Hyundai's’s factory plant.
“Following the Immigration Enforcement Operation on the Hyundai Battery Plant in Georgia, I am hereby calling on all Foreign Companies investing in the United States to please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws,” Trump said.
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“Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build World Class products, and we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so.
“What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers.”
In a joint statement released after the raid, Hyundai and LG Energy said they were “co-operating fully with the appropriate authorities regarding activity at our construction site. To assist their work, we have paused construction.”
Hyundai also said that “based on our current understanding, none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company”.
It added that the company “is committed to full compliance with all laws and regulations in every market where we operate”.
The raid was the result of a months-long investigation into allegations of illegal hiring at the rural site, the agency said.
Hyundai Motor Group started manufacturing EVs at the $7.6 billion plant a year ago.
Originally published as Hyundai factory workers face deportation amid ICE raid
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