What we know about the Hyundai-LG plant immigration raid in Georgia

Immigration officials arrested nearly 500 workers, most of them South Korean citizens, at the construction site of an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Georgia on Sept 4, as the Trump administration continues its

far-ranging crackdown on illegal immigration.

The raid, which US officials have called the largest Homeland Security enforcement operation at a single location, stirred tensions with the South Korean government, a valued trade partner of the United States.

It also revealed competing interests within the Trump administration between the president’s push to expand manufacturing in the United States and his aggressive efforts to crack down on immigration.

The plant at the centre of the operation was co-owned by South Korean carmaker Hyundai.

US immigration authorities said the detained employees – many of them hired by subcontractors to help finish the plant’s construction – were working or living in the United States illegally.

On Sept 7, government officials in South Korea said they had reached an agreement with the US for the Korean workers to be freed and flown back to their home country.

Mr Cho Hyun, South Korea’s foreign minister, left Seoul on Sept 8 to travel to Washington to help secure the release of the workers.

Here is what we know about the raid and its fallout:

Where did it happen?

The raid targeted an EV battery plant still under construction in Ellabell, Georgia, near Savannah. The plant is owned by two companies: Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution, both titans in South Korean industry.

Immigration officials descended on the plant on Sept 4, arresting hundreds who were allegedly living or working in the US illegally. The operation was the product of a months-long investigation, officials said.

As of the night of Sept 4, most of the detained workers were being held at the Folkston detention facility in southern Georgia.

The unfinished battery plant represented the kind of strategic investment the US has welcomed from South Korea in recent years – one that promised to create manufacturing jobs and build up a growing industry.

Georgia has eagerly sought investment by South Korean businesses, with Governor Brian Kemp visiting the country twice since taking office. Korean companies have invested in plants making batteries, semiconductor materials and solar panels, as well as a large-scale bakery and food distribution centre.

But the state has also enthusiastically embraced the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. The Georgia State Patrol and the Georgia National Guard have both worked closely with federal immigration enforcement agents, and the State Patrol was involved in the Sept 4 raid.

“In Georgia, we will always enforce the law, including all state and federal immigration laws,” the governor’s office said in a statement.

“All companies operating within the state must follow the laws of Georgia and our nation.”

Who was arrested?

The raid swept up 475 people

, most of them South Korean citizens, agents said.

No Hyundai employees were arrested, the carmaker said. LG Energy Solution, the battery manufacturer, said 47 of its employees were detained.

A majority of the arrested South Korean workers were not direct employees of Hyundai or LG but were subcontractors, according to industry officials familiar with the project. The LG employees arrested were helping oversee the factory’s construction, and had arrived in the United States with visas or under a visa waiver program, the officials said.

It was not clear how many of those detained by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) last week were building the plant and how many were workers brought in to install and calibrate specialised equipment, or to train the local workforce.

Mr Steven Schrank, a special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations for Georgia, said during a news conference that some US citizens and lawful permanent residents were also detained in the raid and would be released.

The investigation has not yet yielded criminal charges.

How did South Korea respond?

Before the agreement on Sept 7 to release the workers, South Korea expressed alarm at the Sept 4 raid, with top government officials assembling for an emergency meeting.

A spokesperson for the country’s Foreign Ministry told reporters at a news conference on Sept 5 that South Korean Embassy and consular officials based in Atlanta and Washington were dispatched to the plant.

“The economic activities of our investment companies and the rights and interests of our citizens must not be unjustly violated during US law enforcement proceedings,” the ministry said in a statement on Sept 5.

Editorials published in major South Korean newspapers criticised the raid, which came at a fraught time in US-South Korean relations.

The Trump administration has sought greater investments from the long-time ally while simultaneously imposing tariffs and visa restrictions on the country that have made those ventures more costly for South Korean companies.

In late July,

both nations agreed to a deal that would levy 15 per cent tariffs

on most South Korean exports to the United States, down from a rate of 25 per cent that President Donald Trump had threatened months earlier. But officials from the two countries are still hammering out the minutiae of that agreement.

In August, President Lee Jae-myung of South Korea travelled to Washington for a meeting with Mr Trump. Some observers feared it could prove contentious, but it ultimately reaffirmed the two nations’ long-standing alliance.

South Korean companies have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in the US in recent years, drawn in part by policies to incentivise semiconductor and electric vehicle manufacturing. And Mr Trump has sought even greater investment during tariff negotiations, with the White House securing US$350 billion (S$448.6 billion) from South Korea as part of the preliminary tariff deal announced in July.

Mr Lee promised an additional US$150 billion investment during his visit to the White House.

Still, when Mr Trump was asked on Sept 5 whether he was concerned about his immigration agenda clashing with his economic goals, he said that immigration authorities were just doing their jobs.

“They came through illegally,” Mr Trump said of the detained workers. “They came into our country. So we have to do our job.”

The raid also exposed local labour tensions, as some American workers in the area have said they have not been given a fair chance at jobs at the complex, which has been billed as the largest economic development project in Georgia’s history.

What else is known about the plant, and what have the companies involved said?

The plant has been the subject of investigative reports by local TV station WTOC about poor safety conditions and the use of unauthorised labourers. At least three workers have died at the complex, according to local law enforcement.

Officials from both Hyundai and LG Energy Solution said the safety of their workers was critical and announced their own inquiries into the raid, including into the practices of their subcontractors.

In a statement, LG Energy Solution said the company prioritises “the safety and well-being of our team” and that its US$25 billion (S$32 billion) investment in North American manufacturing would create about 14,000 jobs in the US by 2027.

Hyundai said the company was “committed to maintaining the highest safety standards”. It also said its employees “are required to comply fully with US laws and regulations”. NYTimes