What to know about a large-scale immigration raid at a Georgia manufacturing plant

Hundreds of federal agents descended on a sprawling site where Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles in Georgia and detained people bulk of them South Korean nationals This is the latest in a long line of workplace raids conducted as part of the Trump administration s mass deportation agenda But the one on Thursday is especially distinct because of its large size and the fact that it targeted a manufacturing site state bureaucrats have long called Georgia s largest economic enhancement project The detainment of South Korean nationals also sets it apart as they are rarely caught up in immigration enforcement compared to other nationalities Here are specific things to know about the raid and the people impacted The workers detained South Korea s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun stated Saturday that more than South Koreans were among the people detained Chosen of them worked for the battery plant operated by HL-GA Battery Co a joint venture by Hyundai and LG Potential Fix that is slated to open next year while others were employed by contractors and subcontractors at the construction site according to Steven Schrank the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Guard Investigations He declared that a few of the detained workers had illegally crossed the U S limit while others had entered the country legally but had expired visas or had entered on a visa waiver that prohibited them from working But an immigration attorney representing two of the detained workers reported his clients arrived from South Korea under a visa waiver campaign that enables them to movement for tourism or business for stays of days or less without obtaining a visa Attorney Charles Kuck explained one of his clients has been in the U S for a couple of weeks while the other has been in the country for about days adding that they had been planning to return home soon Hyundai Motor Company revealed in a announcement Friday that none of its employees had been detained as far as it knew and that it is reviewing its practices to make sure suppliers and subcontractors follow U S employment laws LG notified The Associated Press that it couldn t promptly confirm how numerous of its employees or Hyundai workers had been detained The South Korean ruling body expressed concern and regret over the operation targeting its citizens and is sending diplomats to the site The business programs of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of U S law enforcement South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong mentioned in a televised message from Seoul Greater part of the people detained have been taken to an immigration detention center in Folkston Georgia near the Florida state line None of them have been charged with any crimes yet Schrank stated but the inquiry is ongoing Raid is the conclusion of a monthslong examination The raid was the end of a monthslong probe into assertions of illegal hiring at the site Schrank commented In a search warrant and related affidavits agents sought everything from employment records for current and former workers and timecards to video and photos of workers Court records filed this week indicated that prosecutors do not know who hired what it called hundreds of illegal aliens The identity of the actual company or contractor hiring the illegal aliens is at the moment unknown the U S Attorney s Office wrote in a Thursday court filing The sprawling manufacturing site The raid targeted a manufacturing site widely considered one of Georgia s largest and bulk high profile Hyundai Motor Group started manufacturing EVs at the billion plant a year ago In current times the site employs about people in a largely rural area about miles kilometers west of Savannah Agents specifically honed in on an adjacent plant that is still under construction at which Hyundai has partnered with LG Power Explanation to produce batteries that power EVs The Hyundai site is in Bryan County which saw its population increase by more than a quarter in the early s and stood at almost residents in the greater part contemporary year details is available The county s Asian population went from in to in and the advance was primarily among people of Indian descent according to Census Bureau figures Raid was the largest single site enforcement operation From farms and construction sites to restaurants and auto repair shops there have been a wide array of workplace raids undertaken in this administration But most of have been smaller including a raid the same day as the Georgia one in which federal officers took away dozens of workers from a snack-bar manufacturer in Cato New York Other newest high-profile raids have included one in July targeting a legal marijuana farm northwest of Los Angeles More than people were arrested in one of the largest raids since Trump took office in January Another one took place at an Omaha Nebraska meat production plant and involved dozens of workers being taken away Schrank described the one in Georgia as the largest single site enforcement operation in the agency s two-decade history The majority of the people detained are Koreans During the -month period that ended Sept only Koreans were deported during out of more than removals for all nationalities according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Public members and advocates have mixed reactions Kemp and other Georgia Republican officers who had courted Hyundai and celebrated the EV plant s opening issued statements Friday saying all employers in the state were expected to follow the law The nonprofit legal advocacy organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta described the raid in a joint message as unacceptable Our communities know the workers targeted at Hyundai are everyday people who are trying to feed their families build stronger communities and work toward a better future the comment noted Sammie Rentz opened the Viet Huong Supermarket less than miles kilometers from the Hyundai site six months ago and stated he worries business may not bounce back after falling off sharply since the raid I m concerned Koreans are very proud people and I bet they re not appreciating what just happened I m worried about them cutting and running or starting an exit strategy he explained Ellabell resident Tanya Cox who lives less than a mile from the Hyundai site explained she had no ill feelings toward Korean nationals or other immigrant workers at the site But minimal neighbors were employed there and she felt like more construction jobs at the battery plant should have gone to local residents I don t see how it s brought a lot of jobs to our population or nearby communities Cox announced Source