Former President Donald Trump on Sunday defended a large Immigration and Customs Enforcement workplace raid at a Hyundai battery plant in Georgia while urging policymakers to create temporary pathways for foreign experts to train American workers in advanced industries.
Homeland Security Investigations announced that 475 people, mostly South Korean nationals, were arrested at the under‑construction electric‑vehicle battery facility after agents carried out enforcement actions at the site on Sept. 5, 2025. Trump said the arrests were appropriate but argued the United States also needs a mechanism to bring in skilled technicians for short periods to transfer know‑how to U.S. workers.
Asked about the operation, Trump said some foreign specialists who understand battery production could be allowed to enter and remain briefly to train Americans who lack experience in such technologies. "If you don’t have people in this country right now that know about batteries, maybe we should help them along," he said, adding that industries including shipbuilding and computer manufacturing similarly need trainers. He also said ICE was right to arrest those in the U.S. illegally.
Trump separately posted on his social platform that foreign companies investing in the United States are welcome to bring technical talent "quickly and legally" if they hire and train American workers. "What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers," he wrote, calling for legal measures to expedite skilled‑worker entries while stressing enforcement against illegal employment.
Hyundai said it owns the site but that the arrested workers were not directly employed by the company and that many were hired through subcontractors. Homeland Security Investigations chief Steven Schrank said the detained individuals arrived via a mix of circumstances: some had crossed the border illegally, others had overstayed visas or were present under waivers that explicitly barred employment.
The South Korean government reached an agreement with U.S. authorities to secure the release of hundreds of its nationals detained in the operation and announced plans to send a charter plane to repatriate workers in the coming days. Seoul expressed "concern and regret" over the raid even as it moved to assist its citizens.
U.S. immigration and labor officials have increasingly scrutinized employment at large construction and manufacturing projects as part of broader enforcement priorities. The Georgia raid was among the largest workplace enforcement actions of the Trump administration and comes amid elevated political attention to both illegal immigration and the domestic expansion of advanced manufacturing, including electric‑vehicle supply chains.
Administration and industry officials have previously discussed gaps in domestic technical capacity for battery manufacturing and other high‑tech sectors. Trump framed the recent events as an example of competing priorities — enforcing immigration laws while ensuring U.S. workers receive training to support national industrial goals — and encouraged developing legal channels that would allow foreign specialists to assist in workforce development without undermining enforcement.
Homeland Security officials did not immediately provide further details on the status of individual cases or potential changes to visa or temporary‑worker policies. Hyundai and federal authorities said investigations into hiring practices at the construction site and the circumstances of the arrests are ongoing.