Federal agents detained 475 people at a sprawling Hyundai electric-vehicle manufacturing site in Ellabell, Georgia, in what Homeland Security investigators described as the agency’s largest single-site enforcement operation in its history. Officials said most of those taken into custody were South Korean nationals, a group rarely targeted in U.S. immigration enforcement.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and other federal authorities carried out the operation on Thursday as the culmination of a monthslong probe into alleged illegal hiring at the site, officials said. Steven Schrank, the lead HSI agent in Georgia, said the raid focused in part on an adjacent battery plant under construction, operated by HL-GA Battery Co., a joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution. Schrank said some of the detained workers had crossed the U.S. border illegally, while others had overstayed visas or entered on visa waiver programs that prohibit employment.
South Korea’s foreign minister, Cho Hyun, said Saturday that more than 300 South Koreans were among the 475 detained. The South Korean government expressed “concern and regret” and dispatched diplomats to the site, saying the business activities of investors and the rights of nationals should not be unjustly infringed during law enforcement actions. An immigration attorney representing two detainees, Charles Kuck, said his clients had entered on a visa waiver for short tourism or business stays and planned to return home soon.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman Lindsay Williams said detainees included a lawful permanent resident who was being held because of a prior conviction involving firearms and drugs, noting that certain criminal convictions can jeopardize permanent residency. Williams also denied reports that U.S. citizens had been detained, saying agents have no authority to hold citizens once they identify themselves.
Hyundai Motor Company said in a statement that, to its knowledge, none of its direct employees had been detained and that the company was reviewing its practices to ensure suppliers and subcontractors comply with U.S. employment laws. LG Energy Solution said it could not immediately confirm how many of its workers or contractors were affected.
Most of those detained were transported to an immigration detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida state line, Schrank said. None had been charged with criminal offenses at the time of his remarks, and the investigation and review of employment records, timecards, video and other evidence collected under search warrants were ongoing. Court filings by the U.S. Attorney’s Office said prosecutors did not yet know which specific company or contractor hired what the filings described as “hundreds of illegal aliens.”
The enforcement action targeted one of the state’s highest-profile economic development projects. Hyundai’s $7.6 billion manufacturing complex began EV production about a year ago and directly employs roughly 1,200 people in largely rural Bryan County, about 25 miles west of Savannah. The battery plant under construction is central to the site’s expansion plans.
Local officials and community members expressed mixed reactions. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and other Republican state leaders, who had actively courted Hyundai, issued statements emphasizing that all employers must follow the law. Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta called the raid “unacceptable,” saying targeted workers were everyday people trying to support their families.
Small business owners near the plant reported a drop in customers amid concern and uncertainty. Viet Huong Supermarket owner Sammie Rentz, who opened six months ago less than three miles from the complex, said business had fallen sharply since the raid and voiced worry about a possible exodus of Korean nationals. Resident Tanya Cox, who lives less than a mile from the plant, said she felt more construction jobs should have gone to local residents but expressed no ill will toward immigrant workers.
The Georgia operation is part of a broader pattern of workplace enforcement actions that have accelerated under the current administration, including raids at construction sites, farms, meatpacking plants and other workplaces nationwide. HSI officials said the scale of the Ellabell action — involving hundreds of detainees at a single industrial complex — set it apart from other recent operations.
Federal data cited by HSI notes that enforcement actions rarely affect South Korean nationals: during the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2024, only 46 South Koreans were removed from the United States out of more than 270,000 removals for all nationalities.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office and HSI have said the investigation will continue as they review documents and interview witnesses to determine who was responsible for hiring the individuals in question and whether criminal charges or removal proceedings are warranted. The detained workers’ immigration statuses and any criminal histories will shape individual outcomes under U.S. immigration law.
The raid has raised questions about the balance between enforcing immigration laws, protecting worker rights, and the diplomatic fallout from detaining a large number of foreign nationals associated with a major international investment. Federal officials said they were executing enforcement actions based on the results of their investigation and court-authorized searches; South Korean diplomats and local advocates said they would monitor the treatment of detainees and pursue consular assistance.
As the legal review proceeds, the operation is likely to prompt further scrutiny of subcontracting and hiring practices at large construction and manufacturing projects, as well as renewed political debate over immigration enforcement strategies and their economic and diplomatic consequences.