On a large scale Implementation of immigration Raid in a huge Hyundai facility in Georgia On Thursday, 475 immigrants who were suspected of living and working illegally in the United States, as the federal authorities have announced.
Steven Schrank, the Special Agent, who is responsible for the investigation of the home protection in Georgia and Alabama, informed the reporters on Friday that the majority of imprisoned Korean nationals, but he did not know exactly how many. They worked for a large number of different companies on the website, including subcontractors, he said.
The South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Saturday that more than 300 South Koreans were among the 475 people.
No criminal complaints were announced during the press conference on Friday. The Sweep was carried out as part of a one -month investigation into illegal employment practices and other federal crimes, said Schrank. On Thursday, he described the raid on Thursday as the largest enforcement process in a single location in the history of the home protection examinations, which is a unit of the US immigration and customs authority.
“This operation underlines our commitment to the protection of jobs for Georgians and Americans, the guarantee of a level competitive field for companies that comply with the law, protect the integrity of our economy and protect workers from exploitation,” said Schrank.
Some of those arrested on Thursday were allegedly illegally to the United States, others were accused of exceeding their visas or violating visa injuries by working, Schrank said. Most of the prisoners were brought to an ice facility in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida Georgia State-Line.
“They are also moved because of their individual circumstances,” said Schrank.
In an explanation on Friday evening, ICE said that those who were arrested during the operation “work illegally what violates the conditions of their visa and/or status”. A Green Card owner from Mexico was arrested after “found that they were removable from the United States due to several criminal convictions,” said ICE.
The examination has not yet been completed and additional arrests and fees are possible, ICE said.
Parker Puls / Bloomberg via Getty Images
In the ICE Friday evening's statement, Schrank said that the operation “sends a clear news that those who take advantage of the system and undermine our workforce are held accountable.”
“We welcome all companies that want to invest in the United States, and if you have to contribute employees to build or other projects, that's okay – but you have to do this in a legal way,” said Schrank.
The President of Georgia's chapter of the AFL-CIO described the RAID politically and said that ice has escalated his presence at jobs throughout the state.
“This raid is the youngest in an ongoing campaign of harassment that Georgians have targeted with a migration background when they try to make an honest living,” said Yvonne Brooks in a statement. “Workers who are used and detained every day and risk their life in the job every day, creates an atmosphere of fear, the workers and their families terrorized and increases the workload for their employees.”
The operation included law enforcement officers from several federal authorities, including ICE, border patrol, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS and the office for alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives and underline the state's way of approaching the Trump administration against illegal immigration.
Previously, the ATF office in Atlanta had stated that 450 people were arrested in a contribution on social media that contained pictures from the operation.
The Sweep aimed at one of the largest and top -class production facilities in Georgia, which was advertised by governor Brian Kemp and other officials as the largest economic development project in the history of the state. The Hyundai Motor Group, the largest car manufacturer in South Korea, started a year ago with the manufacture of electric vehicles in the system of 7.6 billion US dollars with around 1,200 employees and is composed of the LG Energy solution to build an adjacent battery system that is to be opened next year. The search completed the construction in the battery system.
ATF
In a statement, the Hyundai Motor Company said that it was aware of the company and “had closely monitored the situation while he understands the specific circumstances”.
“Based on our current understanding, none of the detained people are used directly by the Hyundai Motor Company,” it said. “Hyundai is committed to the complete compliance with all laws and regulations in every market in which we work. This includes the requirements for the employment check and the laws of immigration. We expect the same commitment of all of our partners, suppliers, contractors and subcontractors.”
“We examine our processes to ensure that all parties working on our projects maintain the same high standards for legal compliance that we demand. This includes a thorough review of employment practices by contractors and subcontractors,” said the company, in part and added that it would “carry out an examination to ensure that all suppliers and their subcontractors and regulations and regulations are equivalent to.”
In a statement to The Associated Press, LG said that it “carefully monitored the situation and collected all relevant details”. It said it could not immediately confirm how many of his employees or Hyundai workers had been imprisoned.
“Our top priority is always to ensure the security and well -being of our employees and partners. We will work fully with the responsible authorities,” said the company.
ICE spokesman Lindsay Williams confirmed that the federal authorities carried out a asset operation on the 3,000 hectare site west of Savannah. He said the agents focused on the construction site for the battery system.
In a statement, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that there were civil servants on site and asked the US message in Seoul to “change extreme caution to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of the Korean citizens are not violated.”
“The economic activities of Korean investment companies and the rights and interests of Korean citizens may not be wrongly violated during the US criminal traps,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Georgia State Patrol Troopers blocked the streets to the Hyundai site. The Georgia Department of Public Safety confirmed that it was sent to support the federal authorities.
Video, which was published on Thursday on social media, showed that workers in yellow security vests as a man with facial mask and tactical vest with the letters HSI, which stand for home protection, have been set up: “We are home protection. We have a search command for the entire location.”
“We need a building to set immediately,” says the man in the video. “We need all work to end on the website.”
The Trump administration has carried out comprehensive ice operations as part of a mass design agenda. Immigration officers have searched farms, construction sites, restaurants and car repair shops.
The Pew Research Center, citing the data of the preliminary census offices, according to the U.S. work population lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January to July. This includes people who are illegal in the country, as well as legal residents.
The HL-GA Battery Company from Hyundai and LGS Batterie-Joint Venture said in a explanation that it “fully worked with the responsible authorities” and the construction of the battery site to support their work.
The company in Hyundais EV production facility was not interrupted, said the plants spokesman, Bianca Johnson.
“This did not affect that people went to work,” said Johnson in an e -mail. “Production and normal office hours had already started for the day”, when the authorities made access.
Hyundai's location is located in Bryan County, where its population rose by more than a quarter in the early 2020s and was almost 47,000 inhabitants in 2023. The last year data are available. The Asian population of the district rose from 1.5% in 2018 to 2.2% in 2023, and the growth was mainly in people of Indian descent.
Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.
