ICE detains 475 workers in massive raid at Hyundai battery factory construction site

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducted their largest single-location raid, detaining 475 people at a Hyundai battery factory construction site.

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) raided the Hyundai battery factory under construction in Georgia. This factory is part of Hyundai Metaplant, the largest economic development project in the state’s history.

The search warrant used for the raid targeted four Hispanic workers. More than 300 of those detained were South Korean nationals, most of whom were subcontractors.

According to a South Korean official who spoke to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Seoul was not given prior warning of the operation.

Hyundai stated that none of its direct employees were detained during the raid.

The American labor market lacks experience with Hyundai’s advanced battery technology. An employee told the South Korean newspaper Hankyung that “experienced Korean workers” were needed to establish the manufacturing facility, but “due to the US government’s reluctance to issue H-1B visas, realistically, there were no options other than shorter-term and limited-authority ESTA and B-1 visas.”

It remains unclear what types of visas the workers possessed and whether they were authorized to be present at the construction site.

South Korea is one of the US’s largest sources of foreign direct investment and most recently pledged $350 billion in investment last July.

Professor Kim Tae-Hyung from Soongsil University in Seoul told Bloomberg that the raid felt “like being stabbed in the back.”

The South Korean presidential office announced that the detained Koreans would return to their country via charter flight.

The country’s foreign minister is expected to be in Washington today to discuss how similar incidents can be prevented and to advocate for improvements to the visa system for foreign workers involved in agreements between the US and other nations.

South Korea is the world’s 10th largest economy and the US’s 6th largest trade partner.

President Trump posted on Truth Social yesterday, stating, “I hereby invite all foreign companies investing in the US to respect our country’s immigration laws.”