Claims that car manufacturer Hyundai would be closing down a sprawling auto plant “megasite” located in rural Georgia spread across the internet in early September 2025.
The rumor spread following a raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sept. 4, 2025, at a Hyundai manufacturing facility in Ellabell, Georgia, located outside Savannah. ICE detained 475 people, according to reporting by The Associated Press, “most of them South Korean nationals.”
Users on social media platforms like Threads (archived) and Facebook (archived, archived) alleged the company was set on pulling out of the area because of ICE’s actions, with one user stating, “Hyundai is closing its plant after the raid, 8500 American jobs and 4.3 billion dollar investment from South Korea… gone.” The rumor’s popularity on social media led to many Snopes readers emailing us in search of clarification.
The Ellabell plant is a sprawling facility that employs about 1,200 people with plans to eventually employ “at least 8,100 workers,” according to the AP.
The focus of the raid was a construction site on the property for HL-GA Battery Company, a joint partnership between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution that was announced in 2023 to produce electric vehicle battery cells. HL-GA was touted as an additional $2 billion investment in the rural Georgia community following Hyundai’s larger $5.5 billion electric vehicle plant announced in 2022.
According to a news conference with Steven Schrank, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama, the employees who were detained during the raid “worked for a variety of different companies that were on the site, it was not just the parent company but also subcontractors.”
However, there was no evidence that Hyundai was closing the Georgia facility in light of the raid. The AP reported HL-GA would be pausing construction of the battery plant, which is scheduled to be opened in 2026, but HL-GA did not respond to Snopes for further comment. We have opted not to give a rating to this claim until HL-GA responds.
However, Michael Stewart, director of public relations and communications at Hyundai North America, told Snopes via email, “there have been no changes to Hyundai’s operations in the U.S.” and referred to a statement released on the company’s website addressing the incident. The statement claimed that “none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company” and “Hyundai has zero tolerance for those who don’t follow the law.”
The company’s statement read in full:
Hyundai Motor Company is aware of the immigration enforcement action that took place at the construction site of its supplier, the HL-GA Battery Company in Bryan County, Georgia. We are closely monitoring the situation while working to understand the specific circumstances. Based on our current understanding, none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company.
Hyundai is committed to full compliance with all laws and regulations in every market where we operate. This includes employment verification requirements and immigration laws. We expect the same commitment from all our partners, suppliers, contractors, and subcontractors.
The safety and well-being of everyone working at our sites, whether directly employed by us or working for our suppliers, is a top priority. We take our responsibility as a corporate citizen seriously, and incidents like this remind us of the importance of robust oversight throughout our entire supply chain and contractor network.
We are reviewing our processes to ensure that all parties working on our projects maintain the same high standards of legal compliance that we demand of ourselves. This includes thorough vetting of employment practices by contractors and subcontractors.
North America Chief Manufacturing Officer Chris Susock will now assume governance of the entire megasite in Georgia and we will conduct an investigation to ensure all suppliers and their subcontractors comply with all laws and regulations.
Hyundai has zero tolerance for those who don’t follow the law.
As we continue to invest in American manufacturing and create thousands of jobs, we will do so in full accordance with U.S. law and in a manner that reflects our values of treating all people with dignity and respect.
While it does not appear Hyundai intended to shut down operations in Georgia, CNN reported that the impact of the raid on the local community “landed with less visible shock than in other communities swept up by immigration crackdowns,” citing that many were temporary employees during the ongoing construction.
“Few of the permanent employees expected to fill 8,500 slots have been hired, and the bulk of the current workforce is transient – single men on temporary visas or contracts, rotating through for months at a time,” CNN reported. “They are not yet the long-settled family men whose sudden absence, in other towns, has torn holes in the fabric of civic life.”
A local business owner cited an “overnight” drop in business for his Viet Huong Supermarket in Ellabell following the raid, telling CNN he “only had three Korean customers come into the store, compared with the usual 10 to 15.”
One local resident told the AP of Hyundai’s facility, “I don’t see how it’s brought a lot of jobs to our community or nearby communities… Where we used to hear birds chirping and animal life around here, now we hear the plant when it’s fully going at night.” The AP also reported the citizen “felt like more construction jobs at the battery plant should have gone to local residents.”
We will update this article if we receive a response from HL-GA about the alleged closure.
Sources:
– YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShTUzNeQd_k. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
“Attorney Says Detained Korean Hyundai Workers Had Special Skills for Short-Term Jobs.” AP News, 8 Sep. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-us-georgia-raid-hyundai-24d990562f5ac20e7d3e983a77a4f7ff.
Faheid, Graham Hurley, Dalia. “Nearly 500 Workers Were Taken in a Raid at Hyundai’s Battery Plant. In a Quiet Georgia Town, the Silence Is Deafening.” CNN, 8 Sep. 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/08/us/georgia-hyundai-ice-raid-community.
“Homeland Security Official Says 475 People Were Detained during an Immigration Raid in Georgia.” AP News, 5 Sep. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/us-south-korea-ice-raid-georgia-hyundai-9394482c195664d7cc3db67ae998ac05.
“Hyundai and LG Will Invest an Additional $2B into Making Batteries at Georgia Electric Vehicle Plant.” AP News, 31 Aug. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/hyundai-georgia-lg-electric-vehicle-battery-58bdbe36e34179db41c95dc120851f77.
“Hyundai Announces $5.5B Electric Vehicle Plant in Georgia.” AP News, 20 May 2022, https://apnews.com/article/biden-technology-politics-elections-7369e0d57019aa45e84609787050894b.
Hyundai Motor Company Statement on Law Enforcement Activity in Georgia – Hyundai Newsroom. https://www.hyundainews.com/en-us/releases/4546. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
Solution, LG Energy. LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group to Establish Battery Cell Manufacturing Joint Venture in the U.S. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lg-energy-solution-and-hyundai-motor-group-to-establish-battery-cell-manufacturing-joint-venture-in-the-us-301835407.html. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
“US Immigration Officers Raid Georgia Site Where Hyundai Makes Electric Vehicles.” AP News, 4 Sep. 2025, https://apnews.com/article/immigration-raid-hyundai-georgia-electric-vehicles-191904f42f540898035feb2a6623d98e.
