Immigration raid detains hundreds from car factory in Georgia
More than 400 people were detained on September 4 during an immigration raid on a sprawling Georgia site where the South Korean company, Hyundai, manufactures electric vehicles, according to an internal security manager.
Steven Schrank, special agent in charge, Homeland Security Investigations, said in a press briefing on September 5 that the majority of detainees came from South Korea.
“This operation underlines our commitment to jobs for the Georgians and the Americans,” said Schrank. “It was in fact the largest operation to apply a single site in the history of internal security surveys.”
The investigation has been underway for several months, the authorities receiving avenues for community members and former workers, he said.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Jaewoeong described the number of South Koreans detained as “large” although he did not provide exact figures.
He said that detained workers were part of a “network of subcontractors” and that employees worked for a variety of different companies on the site.
The RAID has targeted one of the most important manufacturing sites and the highest level of Georgia, praised by Governor Brian Kemp and other officials as the largest economic development project in state history.
Hyundai Motor Group, the largest car manufacturer in South Korea, began to make electric vehicles a year ago in the $ 7.6 billion factory, which employs around 1,200 people, and has teamed up with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery factory, which is expected to open next year. In a declaration to the Associated Press, LG said that it “monitored the situation closely and brought together all the relevant details”. He said he couldn’t immediately confirm how many of his Hyundai employees or workers had been detained.
“Our absolute priority is always to guarantee the security and well-being of our employees and partners. We will cooperate fully with the competent authorities,” said the company.
The South Korean office of Hyundai did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
ICE spokesperson Lindsay Williams confirmed that the federal authorities had carried out an operation to apply the 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares) site west of Savannah, in Georgia. He said that the agents were concentrated on the construction site of the battery plant.
In a television statement, Lee said that the ministry took active measures to respond to the case, by dispatching diplomats from his embassy in Washington and the Consulate in Atlanta to the site and planning to form a response team on the spot centered on the local Mission.
“The commercial activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals should not be unjustly raped in the process of the American police,” said Mr. Lee.
The Ministry of Internal Security said in a statement that the agents had executed a search warrant “as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of illegal employment practices and other serious federal crimes”.
President Donald Trump’s administration has undertaken radical ice operations as part of a mass expulsion program. Immigration agents have descended on farms, construction sites, restaurants and automotive repair workshops.
The PEW Research Center, citing data from the preliminary census office, says the American workforce has lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January to July. This includes people who are illegally in the country as well as legal residents.
Hyundai and LG Battery Veventure, HL-GA Battery Company, said in a statement that it “fully cooperated with the appropriate authorities” and paused the construction of the battery site to help their work.
Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing plant operations have not been interrupted, said spokesperson for the Bianca Johnson factory.
The Georgia factory was also a test field for robots. Boston Dynamics, owned by Hyundai, said earlier this year that he would start to deploy his dog -shaped punctual robot to inspect the external quality at the establishment’s weld shop. The Massachusetts -based robotics company also planned to put its humanoid robot, Atlas, to work there in the future.
This story was reported by the Associated Press.
