GEORGIA (LOOTPRESS) – Federal authorities detained 475 workers during a large-scale immigration enforcement raid at Hyundai’s massive facility in Georgia on Thursday, officials announced.
Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia, said Friday that most of those detained were Korean nationals, though he could not provide an exact figure.
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The workers were employed by various companies at the site, including subcontractors.
No criminal charges were announced, but Schrank said the raid was part of a months-long investigation into unlawful employment practices and other federal crimes. He described it as the largest single-site enforcement action in HSI’s history.
Those detained included individuals accused of entering the U.S. illegally, overstaying visas, or violating visa waivers by working. Most were transported to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida border.
The operation involved multiple federal agencies, including ICE, the U.S. Border Patrol, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the IRS.
Hyundai’s $7.6 billion facility, one of Georgia’s largest economic development projects, began manufacturing electric vehicles last year and employs about 1,200 people. The raid also halted construction at an adjacent battery plant being built in partnership with LG Energy Solution.
Earlier reports from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had placed the number of detainees at 450.
