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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Massive immigration raid at Hyundai megaplant in Georgia leads to 475
arrests. Most are Korean
By Chris Boyette, Emma Tucker, Karina Tsui, Diego Mendoza, Holly Yan,
Isabel Rosales, CNN
Updated:
10:43 AM EDT, Sat September 6, 2025
Source: CNN
Hundreds of federal officers descended on a small southeast Georgia
community and raided the Hyundai Metaplant – arresting 475 people in
the largest sweep yet in the current Trump administration’s .
The majority of those arrested Thursday at the enormous site in
Ellabell – about 25 miles west of Savannah, Georgia – are Korean
nationals, said Steven Schrank, a Homeland Security Investigations
special agent in charge. Schrank said he did not have a breakdown of
the arrestees’ nationalities.
All 475 people taken into custody were suspected of living and working
illegally in the US, Schrank said. Some entered into the US illegally;
some had visa waivers and were prohibited from working; and some had
overstayed their visas, he said.
During the raid, several people tried to flee – including some who
“ran into a sewage pond located on the premises,” the US
Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia said in a news
release.
“Agents used a boat to fish them out of the water. One of the
individuals swam under the boat and tried to flip it over to no avail.
These people were captured and identified as illegal workers,” the
release states.
Schrank noted that some of the workers may have been contractors or
subcontractors.
“We continue to work on the investigation of who exactly worked for
what companies,” he said.
A Hyundai spokesperson told CNN he does not believe anyone arrested was
a direct employee of Hyundai Motor Company.
“Hyundai is committed to full compliance with all laws and
regulations in every market where we operate. This includes employment
verification requirements and immigration laws,” the company said in
a Friday night.
Hyundai Motor North America Chief Manufacturing Officer Chris Susock
will now manage the megasite and an investigation will be conducted to
verify that suppliers and subcontractors comply with laws, according to
the company.
“We are reviewing our processes to ensure that all parties working on
our projects maintain the same high standards of legal compliance that
we demand of ourselves. This includes thorough vetting of employment
practices by contractors and subcontractors,” the company said,
adding, “Hyundai has zero tolerance for those who don’t follow the
law.”
The sprawling, : a Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing site, and an
EV battery plant that’s a joint venture between Hyundai and LG.
The raid halted construction of the EV battery plant, reported.
LG did not respond to CNN’s questions about how many arrested workers
may have been employed by the company, and how many may have been
contractors or subcontractors for LG.
But the company sent the following statement to CNN:
“We are closely monitoring the situation and gathering all relevant
details. Our top priority is always ensuring the safety and well-being
of our employees and partners. We will fully cooperate with the
relevant authorities.”
How the Georgia raid happened
“This was not an immigration operation where agents went into the
premises, rounded up folks and put them on buses,” Schrank said.
“This has been a multi-month criminal investigation where we have
developed evidence, conducted interviews, gathered documents and
presented that evidence to the court in order to obtain judicial search
warrants.”
At the Georgia site, masked and armed agents gave orders to
construction workers wearing hard hats and safety vests as they lined
up while officers raided the facility, video footage obtained by CNN
showed.
ICE and Homeland Security Investigations were accompanied by the
Georgia State Patrol, the FBI, DEA, ATF and other agencies in executing
a search warrant.
“Together, we are sending a clear and unequivocal message: those who
exploit our workforce, undermine our economy, and violate federal laws
will be held accountable,” the Department of Homeland Security said
in a statement.
A search warrant filed Tuesday in the Southern District of Georgia
reveals that officials sought records related to “violations of
conspiracy to conceal, harbor or shield” people in the US illegally.
The sought-after records included employment and recruitment records,
correspondence with federal officials and identification and
immigration documents. The warrant also identified four people
specifically to be searched.
While the raid is part of an ongoing investigation, “No charges have
been filed, so that means that no wrongdoing is being accused at this
time,” Schrank said.
Worker describes raid as a ‘war zone’
Federal agents descended on the Hyundai site like it was a “war
zone,” a construction worker at the electric car plant told CNN
Friday.
The worker, who asked not to be named to protect his privacy, said he
was part of the first group of people rounded up by federal agents.
“They just told everybody to get on the wall. We stood there for
about an hour and were then taken to another section where we waited.
Then we went in another building and got processed,” the employee
said.
Agents asked each worker for their Social Security number, date of
birth and other identifying information, the employee said. Workers who
were cleared were then given a piece of paper stating “clear to
depart” to show agents at the gate when leaving the plant.
Another worker told CNN affiliate Univision he hid in an air duct to
evade capture.
“Everyone came out running and told us immigration has arrived,”
the unidentified man said. “We hid ourselves in an air duct and it
was really hot.”
GOP governor promoted the Metaplant
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has as a boon for the Georgia economy.
In 2022, Hyundai announced an agreement with the state of Georgia to
build Hyundai’s “first dedicated fully electrified vehicle and
battery manufacturing facilities in the United States” in Bryan
County, .
The Metaplant was expected to create 8,500 jobs.
“With the first 500 employees trained, and more soon to join them,
this is another major milestone as we continue our momentum towards the
full opening of the Hyundai Metaplant!” on social media last year.
Kemp’s office issued a statement Friday in response to the raid.
“In Georgia, we will always enforce the law, including all state and
federal immigration laws,” a Kemp spokesperson said. “The
Department of Public Safety coordinated with ICE to provide all
necessary support for this operation, the latest in a long line of
cooperation and partnership between state law enforcement and federal
immigration enforcement.”
South Korea says it’s concerned
In a televised statement Friday, a spokesperson for Korea’s Foreign
Ministry said “many of our nationals were detained” in the raid,
according to a translation from Reuters.
“The economic activities of our companies investing in the United
States and the interests of our citizens must not be unduly violated
during the course of US law enforcement,” spokesperson Lee Jae-woong
said.
“In Seoul, we also conveyed our concerns and regret through the US
Embassy today, urging special attention to ensure that the legitimate
rights and interests of our citizens are not violated.”
CNN has reached out to the South Korean consulate in Atlanta and the
embassy in Washington, DC for comment.
Georgia immigration attorney Charles Kuck told CNN two of his clients
were detained at the raid after having arrived from South Korea under a
visa waiver program that allows them to travel for tourism or business
for up to 90 days.
One client arrived in the US last week, and the other arrived several
weeks ago, he said.
“They were authorized to work in the US under a visa waiver,” Kuck
said. “Each was pursuing activities consistent with the visa waiver
program.”
The clients, both engineers, came to the US “to advise briefly on the
work” and were planning to return to South Korea shortly, according
to Kuck.
“This trip was actually part of their assigned duties abroad,” Kuck
said.
James Rim, president of the Korean American Association of Southeast
Georgia, said many of the Koreans working at the site are skilled
construction workers or technicians.
“We just want … to make sure they are legally handled right … to
make sure they are respected,” Rim told CNN.
Dozens apprehended in New York, too
On the same day as the Georgia raid, dozens of workers at a
family-owned plant that makes nutrition bars were also apprehended
during an ICE raid, officials said.
Federal agents arrived at the Nutrition Bar Confectioners plant in Cato
and questioned “virtually the entire workforce,” according to Rural
& Migrant Ministry, whose staff witnessed the raid.
The group on its Facebook page showing law enforcement leading people
into a van marked “Border Patrol.” During the raid, workers were
taken into the kitchen area of the plant and “questioned one by one
over the course of many hours,” the group said in the post.
“All the people were scared,” a legal resident working at the plant
who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal told CNN in
Spanish.
Some workers were screaming and crying as the agents “behaved
aggressively with the men” and “pushed the women away,” he said.
The group estimates that “upwards of 70 employees” were questioned
and “nearly all” were then arrested and taken to the nearby Oswego
Detention Center. A spokesperson for the group told CNN they’re still
waiting to hear from authorities about exactly how many were detained.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the ICE operation in her state.
“I am outraged by this morning’s ICE raids in Cato and Fulton,
where more than 40 adults were seized — including parents of at least
a dozen children at risk of returning from school to an empty house,”
Hochul said in a statement.
Hochul said such operations “will not make New York safer” and will
“shatter hard-working families who are simply trying to build a life
here.”
Daniela Mendez, who said her aunt was among those detained, protested
the action, telling : “It’s sad to see your community being put
through fear, being terrorized, being broken apart from their families,
from their children. It’s unfair. It’s unjust and it is racism.”
ICE confirmed to WSTM that it carried out a “court-authorized
enforcement action” in Cato. Employees told WSTM that around 60
workers were detained. CNN has reached out to the agency for further
details.
Mark Schmidt, the owner of Nutrition Bar Confectioners, told the that
all his workers had legal documentation to work in the US. “We’ve
done everything we can to vet people we hire,” he said.
Schmidt described the ICE raid as “overkill.” His son Lenny
Schmidt, the company’s vice president, told the Times the scene was
“almost theatrical,” describing police dogs and all-terrain
vehicles involved in the operation.
“It could have been handled so much more humanely and decently,” he
said. “This kind of raid, you feel like it’s a drug bust or a human
trafficking situation.”
CNN has reached out to the company for further comment.
The New York and Georgia raids come as Chicago leaders are for a
possible National Guard deployment in step with an operation in the
city.
John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE, told CNN federal agents
are focusing on immigration raids rather than criminal operations.
“To date, in LA and DC, what we’ve seen them arrest are your
run-of-the-mill economic migrants … not those gang members, not those
convicted felons who pose a threat to the US,” Sandweg said.
CNN’s Dalia Faheid, Caroll Alvarado, Uriel Blanco, Maria Santana,
Priscilla Alvarez, Max Saltman and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to
this report.
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