A section of rural south -east georgies, just outside of Savannah, has changed quickly in recent years to create a massive production center that can produce almost half a million vehicles a year.
The complex has embodied the ambitions of the South Korean car manufacturers who want to take part in the US market. It was also a crowning glory in a long campaign by Georgia officials to make Korean investments. Until recently, the crews were busy building the latest piece of these efforts, a work that produced batteries for electric vehicles.
However, this vision was clouded by uncertainty after the federal immigration authorities attacked the work on Thursday and had stopped building. Almost 500 workers – many of them South Korean citizens – were arrested.
The raids, which were described by government officials as the largest enforcement company of the home protection lawyers at a single location, have exposed a growing burden, which extends from Seoul to Washington, and even a small, non -legal community such as Ellabell, GA.
South Korea, an enthusiastic trading partner, commented frustrated about the United States. In the Trump government, the arrests have resulted in competing interests because the president of expanding US production has collided against immigration with his aggressive approach. And in Ellabel and in the area, the raids have shown contradictory feelings about how quickly the region changes and who fulfills the jobs created.
Criminal prosecution officers said the raid on Thursday had followed a month-long examination of the suspicion of inadmissible employment practices in the work of the HL-GA Battery Company, a joint venture from the LG Energy Solution and the Hyundai Motor Group. Margaret E. Heap, the US lawyer of South Georgia, said in a statement that the operation was intended to “prevent employers from gaining an unfair advantage by hiring not authorized workers”.
On Sunday, government officials in South Korea said they had made an agreement with the United States to free the Korean workers and fly them back to this country. In addition, many details of the RAID and the examined investigation remained unclear, including the arrest of people and their immigration status, which roles they had been hired to fill them, and the conditions on the construction site. The investigation has not yet shown any criminal complaints.
However, it is clear that the raid sent shock waves in the Pacific, said Tami Oger, an international business consultant who used to head the US Korea Business Council in the US Chamber of Commerce.
“When I spoke to my friends last night, I had a man said:” We get mixed news from the administration: they want our money, but they don't want us, “said Ms. Oger.” It had a frightening effect in session rooms in Asia. “
In Georgia, local politicians and work organizers have expressed concerns about the possibility that people were hired without papers for working at the location, where construction began in 2023 and whether the working conditions met legal standards. Three workers have died in the complex in the past three years.
Barry Zeigler, the managing director of the UA Local Union 188, represents the plumber, pipe fitter, welding equipment and air conditioning, outraged that his members had no longer received any more work at the location. He said that 65 of them were released from the battery system a few months ago after they were set to install steel pipes.
“Georgians were promised these jobs,” said Zeigler.
“I have no problem with the Koreans here and try to make a living here,” he added. But he said he had a problem with people who were not justified to “steal our work”.
Neither Hyundai Motor Company nor LG Energy Solution have commented on the employment practices at the location. LG Energy Solution recognized that his employees and those of partner companies had been arrested. Hyundai said that none of his employees was recorded, but that a review was initiated to ensure that external contractors and partner companies “maintain the same high standards for legal compliance that we demand from ourselves”.
South Korean companies have put billions of dollars in US factories in recent years and have become the best foreign investor in new projects in the United States in 2023.
A large part of these investments were supported by federal grants that were adopted for electric vehicles and semiconductors during the bid administration – and are aggressively pursued by the federal governments that have added sweet agents.
Hyundai alone has announced that between 2025 and 2028 to invest 21 US dollars, in addition to the 20.5 billion US dollars that have already been invested. The Hyundai LG electro-vehicle complex is expected to receive tax benefits up to $ 2.1 billion in order to invest 8,500 employees up to 2031 and employ 8,500 employees.
The push intensified this year because President Trump has imposed 25 percent tariffs. These taxes cost Hyundai more than 600 million US dollars in the second quarter of this year.
In July, with the support of the managing directors of the largest industrial conglomerates in South Korea, the country concluded a contract with the White House, which set 15 percent tariffs for all other imports from South Korea. In addition, South Korea promised to invest another 350 billion US dollars in the United States.
But building so much in America at once requires many thousands of construction workers. In recent years, the factory construction has been booming in the United States due to laws that subsidize Semiconductor and Clean Energy devices, mainly in Republican districts in the middle west and southeast of industrial. Many contractors have also occupied data centers for feeding artificial intelligence models.
In the middle of this demand for workers, the Trump administration essentially interrupted the flow of immigrants who had reached the southern border. In the past few months, the Department of Homeland Security has started to increase the enforcement processes of the job, which are considered more efficient, and to make and get immigrants to leave the country in large numbers.
“Reality is at the moment that there is a lack of workers for construction work nationally,” said Didi Caldwell, Managing Director of global location strategies that help companies find development locations.
In addition, she said that high tariffs frightened by parts and materials as well as the threats for the independence of the Federal Reserve international investors – despite Mr. Trump's promise, easy to build in the United States.
“It is as if we are running with a weighted vest, and there is only a few pounds in the vest,” she said.
Experts for the relationship between South Korea and the United States said that they were concerned that the raid could have harmful consequences to undermine trust and to recharge your batteries.
“By reviewing a factory that has invested records – this is not a way to treat a foreign investment,” said Mark Keam, President of the Korean American Institute, a political research organization.
Abraham Kim, the President of the Council of Korean Americans, a non -profit organization in Washington, said the arrests had made him counterproductive, especially since Korean Americans would have made progress to defend themselves against stereotypes of Asians that are unwelcome in America.
“There was a story of our community when we are outsiders,” he said. “These are not healthy stereotypes.”
Georgia has eagerly applied for South Korean companies, with governor Brian Kemp visiting the country twice since taking office. Korean companies have invested in plants that produce batteries, semiconductor materials and solar collectors as well as a large-scale bakery and food sales center. On Wednesday, Governor Kemp announced that JS Link, a Korean biotechnology company, planned to build a Magnet production facility in Columbus, which would create more than 500 jobs.
The state has also enthusiastically accepted the Trump government's procedure. The Georgia State Patrol and the Georgia National Guard both worked closely with agents of the immigration authorities of the federal immigration, and the state patrol was involved on Thursday on Thursday.
“In Georgia, we will always enforce the law, including all state and federal immigration laws,” said the governor's office in an explanation. “All companies working in the state must follow the laws of Georgia and our nation.”
The battery system is part of the extensive complex, which was an investment of $ 12.6 billion. Company officials predicted that the infusion would have advantages in the whole state, including the creation of almost 40,000 jobs.
In Ellabell, about 25 miles from Savannah, the complex covers more than 2,900 acres. Company officials have equipped a parking space with a canopy with solar collectors and a 41 hectare park with paths, running routes, sports fields and picnic areas for employees.
But outside of the complex two -lane country roads, five lanes have now jammed by traffic. For 20 minutes commuters sometimes approaching an hour, some residents said.
“It is definitely not the same here,” said Derriel Walker, an electric geared line company.
Jennifer Mutcherson, who has lived in Ellabell for more than four decades, said she wished that the complex would not have come.
“This is a small community,” she said, adding that she believed that officials and managing directors had progressed without enough local input. “You didn't ask us if you should bring it in.”
Sammie Rentz took over an old place with a pork, shaky location and invested an investment that had paid off due to the arrival of the complex, he said. The business offers articles with Korean red bean paste and beef bone soup. The packaging on most articles is in Korean with English translations in a small type.
Mr. Rentz said he wanted to address the newcomers.
“It's your business,” he said.
Two men came on Friday who said they had come to the shop from Korea. One wore a bright yellow vest with “HL-GA battery” on the back. The two men who refused to give their names described the situation as “very sad”.
“We try to find our friends,” said one of them.
Mr. Rentz fears that the attack will be bad for business – especially his.
“Korean workers keep this shop going,” he said. “And now it's all confused.”
John Yoon contributed the reporting from Seoul.
