When hundreds of federal, state and local officers descended on a Georgia Hyundai manufacturing plant last week, they came armed with a judicial search warrant naming four people. Ultimately, over 450 people were taken into custody, officials say, suspected of living and working illegally in the United States.
The high-stakes raid followed a weeks-long investigation and marked the largest sweep yet in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown at US worksites. Its repercussions reached high into the halls of diplomacy, prompting South Korea’s foreign minister to make an offer to personally travel to Washington, DC, “to engage directly with US officials to resolve this matter.”
A majority of those arrested — over 300 — were South Korean, according to the country’s foreign affairs minister, and will return to South Korea on a chartered flight in what immigration attorneys are calling a unique agreement.
“I do not know of another instance where a government has responded with chartering a flight,” Sarah Owings, an immigration attorney representing several of the South Koreans detained on Thursday, told CNN.
The South Korean government has been actively working to secure the workers’ release, along with its representatives at the Korean Embassy in Washington, DC, and the Consulate General in Atlanta.
Foreign Affairs Minister Cho Hyun will depart Seoul at 7:40 p.m. local time (6:40 a.m. ET) on Monday for Washington, DC, as Seoul works to bring back the nationals as soon as possible “by voluntary departure,” the ministry spokesperson’s office said. A chartered plane schedule has not yet been set.
“The government will ensure that all necessary measures are effectively implemented to achieve both the swift release of our detained citizens and the stable implementation of the investment projects,” South Korean Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik said Sunday.
The 2,900-acre Hyundai Metaplant has two parts: a Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing site, and an EV battery plant which is a joint venture between Hyundai and LG. The plant was projected to employ up to 8,500 people when complete.
Here’s what we know about the workers detained, their anticipated return home and the sprawling Hyundai–LG battery plant where they worked.
Support for detainees
The Korean government’s actions are “not the normal course of business,” according to Jorge Gavilanes, an Atlanta-based immigration attorney who works for a law firm contacted by a few detainees.
“From what we’ve seen with immigration over the years and different administrations, (the charter) seems to make sense based on what their immigration status might be,” Gavilanes told CNN.
It’s unclear what kind of visas the Korean nationals working at the plant had. Some of the 475 detained entered the US illegally, according to Steven Schrank, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, while others had overstayed their visas. Others were in here under the US Visa Waiver Program which allows workers to travel for tourism or business for up to 90 days, and had subsequently been prohibited from working,
“When you enter under the Visa Waiver Program, then you’re not going to have an opportunity to see a judge to be removed, you’re just automatically issued an order by ICE” to leave the country, Gavilanes said. Typically, these individuals would be removed from the US at the government’s expense, but in this case, he said, the South Korean government is footing the bill.
“It seems like it’s within South Korea’s best interest to try to get their people back as quickly as possible,” Gavilanes said.
Georgia immigration attorney Charles Kuck told CNN two of his clients were detained at the raid after having arrived from South Korea under a visa waiver. One client arrived in the US in August, and the other arrived several weeks ago, he said.
While none of the Korean nationals worked for Hyundai, about 50 of them worked for LG Energy Solutions. Another 250 mostly Korean national employees worked for HL-GA Battery Company LLC, which operates under Hyundai and LG.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung previously called for “all-out necessary measures” to support the detainees.
In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for LG Energy Solution said the company was cooperating with the process: “We will commit our best efforts to ensure the safe and prompt return of our employees and those of our partners.”
When asked Monday about the visa status of the detained workers, the company told CNN, “The visa status of the detained individuals is under investigation, so we don’t know yet.”
CNN has reached out to the State Department, Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Hyundai for comment.
In earlier statements to CNN, LG Energy Solution said its head of Human Resources was traveling to Georgia to aid in the release of detained South Korean nationals.
The company also said it was suspending most of its business trips to the US. “Currently traveling employees are advised to immediately return home or remain at their accommodations, considering their current work status,” a statement read.
“The ‘prompt release’ of the detained individuals is our top priority right now,” LG Energy Solution Chief Human Resources Officer Kim Ki-soo said in the statement.
What happened in Ellabell
The workers detained Thursday worked at the Hyundai Metaplant in Ellabell, Georgia – about 25 miles west of Savannah.
The sprawling, 2,900-acre facility has two parts: a Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing site, and an EV battery plant that’s a joint venture between Hyundai and LG.
In 2022, Hyundai announced an agreement with the state of Georgia to build Hyundai’s “first dedicated fully electrified vehicle and battery manufacturing facilities in the United States” in Bryan County, the company said.
The raid halted construction of the EV battery plant, The Associated Press reported. The Metaplant was expected to create 8,500 jobs.
A search warrant filed Tuesday in the Southern District of Georgia identified four people specifically to be searched, but authorities arrived with substantial personnel and equipment, suggesting an intention to conduct a broader sweep.
“This was not an immigration operation where agents went into the premises, rounded up folks and put them on buses,” Schrank said.
“This has been a multi-month criminal investigation where we have developed evidence, conducted interviews, gathered documents and presented that evidence to the court in order to obtain judicial search warrants.”
At the Georgia site, masked and armed agents gave orders to construction workers wearing hard hats and safety vests as they lined up while officers raided the facility, video footage obtained by CNN showed.
ICE and Homeland Security Investigations were accompanied by the Georgia State Patrol, the FBI, DEA, ATF and other agencies in executing a search warrant.
“Together, we are sending a clear and unequivocal message: those who exploit our workforce, undermine our economy, and violate federal laws will be held accountable,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
CNN’s Mike Valerio, Chris Boyette, Hanna Park, Alaa Elassar and Yoonjung Seo contributed to this report.
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