Huge immigration raid
US immigration authorities detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals, when federal agents raided a manufacturing site in Georgia where Hyundai makes EVs.
Steven Schrank, of Homeland Security Investigations, says the raid resulted from a months-long investigation into allegations of illegal hiring and was the “largest single site enforcement operation” in the agency’s two-decade history.
The raid on September 4 is where Hyundai Motor Group began making EVs about a year ago at a plant west of Savannah, pictured, that employs about 1,200 people.
Agents focused their operation on an adjacent plant still under construction at which Hyundai has partnered with LG Energy Solution to produce batteries that power EVs.
“The business activities of our investors and rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of US law enforcement,” says South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong.
Lee says the ministry has dispatched diplomats from its embassy in Washington and consulate in Atlanta to the site, and was planning to form an on-site response team.
Schrank says while some of those detained illegally crossed the US border, others had entered the country legally but had expired visas or had entered on a waiver that prohibited them from working.
He adds some of worked for the battery manufacturer, while others were employed by contractors and sub-contractors at the construction site.
Schrank says he doesn’t know precisely how many of those detained were South Korean nationals, but they made up a majority. As of the weekend, no one had been charged with any crimes, he adds, but the investigation is ongoing.
“This has been a multi-month criminal investigation where we have developed evidence and conducted interviews, gathered documents and presented that evidence to the court in order to obtain a judicial search warrant,” says Schrank.
Hyundai began producing EVs at the 1,214ha site last September. A few months later, executive chairman Euisun Chung during a White House appearance with Donald Trump credited the president with the company’s decision to create more American jobs by building an EV factory in Georgia.
The battery plant operated by HL-GA Battery Co, a joint venture by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, is slated to open next year.
LG says it is “monitoring the situation and gathering all relevant details”. It adds: “Our top priority is always ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees and partners. We will fully co-operate with the relevant authorities.”
Operations at Hyundai’s EV manufacturing plant weren’t interrupted by the raid, says plant spokesperson Bianca Johnson. Hyundai Motor Company adds it’s “working to understand the specific circumstances” of the raid and detentions.
“It is our understanding none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai,” the company’s statement says. “We prioritise the safety and well-being of everyone working at the site, and comply with all laws and regulations where we operate.”
