Federal Agents Detain 475 Workers at Hyundai's Georgia Battery Plant, Most of Them South Korean

On September 4, 2025, federal agents raided the Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant under construction in Georgia and detained 475 people. Agents from ICE, Border Patrol, the FBI, the DEA, the IRS and the ATF took part. Steven Schrank, the Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, called it the largest enforcement operation at a single site in HSI's history. South Korea's foreign minister confirmed that more than 300 of those detained were South Korean nationals. Seoul dispatched diplomats to the site and told the U.S. Embassy that the business activities of Korean investors and the rights of Korean nationals must not be unjustly infringed. The White House said foreign workers brought in for specific projects must enter the country legally and with proper work authorization.

The raid struck the largest economic development project in Georgia's history, a roughly $7.6 billion facility built with South Korean capital that the administration had courted as a model of reshored manufacturing. It set an industrial-policy goal against an immigration-enforcement goal and produced a diplomatic incident with a treaty ally, raising questions about how visa categories for technicians installing foreign-made equipment interact with worksite enforcement.

Most of the detained South Koreans were later released and flown home, and the two governments discussed visa arrangements for Korean technicians. Hyundai's chief executive warned the raid would delay construction.