475 people arrested at Georgia Hyundai Raid for ICE, other agencies, authorities say

On a large scale Immigration application Raid in a large installation of Hyundai in Georgia on Thursday, 475 suspected immigrants of living and working in the United States were illegally arrested, federal authorities announced.

Steven Schrank, the special agent in charge of national security investigations in Georgia, told reporters on Friday that most of the detainees were Korean citizens, but did not know exactly how many. They worked for a variety of different companies on the site, including subcontractors, he said.

No criminal charges were announced during Friday’s press conference. The sweep was carried out as part of a one -month investigation into accusations of illegal employment practices and other federal crimes, said Schrank. He described Thursday’s raid as the largest application operation in a single site in the history of national security research, which is a unit of the United States immigration and customs control.

“This operation underlines our commitment to protect jobs for Georgians and Americans, ensuring a leveling playing field for companies that comply with the law, safeguard the integrity of our economy and protect workers from exploitation,” Schrank said.

Some of the detainees on Thursday allegedly entered the United States illegally and others were accused of exaggerating their visas or violating visa exemptions when working, Schrank said. Most of the detainees were taken to an ice installation in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida-Georgia state line.

“They will move according to their individual circumstances beyond that,” said Schrank.

The president of the Georgia chapter of the AFL-CIO called the raid politically motivated and said that ICE has been increasing its presence in the workplaces throughout the state.

“This raid is the last one of an ongoing campaign that has attacked immigrant georgians while trying to make honest life,” said Yvonne Brooks in a statement. “Irarando and stop workers, who are exploited every day and risk their lives every day at work, create an atmosphere of fear that terrifies workers and their families and increases the burden of workload in their co -workers.”

The operation involved agents of application of the Law of Multiple Federal Agencies, including ICE; the border patrol; the FBI; the drug control administration; the alcohol, tobacco office, firearms and explosives; and the IRS, underlining the nature of the entire government of the repression of the Trump administration against the illegal immigration.

Previously, the ATL office of ATF had said that 450 people were arrested in a publication on social networks, which included images of the operation.

The sweep was addressed to one of the largest and high -profile manufacturing sites of Georgia, promoted by Governor Brian Kemp and other officials such as the largest economic development project in the history of the State. Hyundai Motor Group, the largest car manufacturer in South Korea, began manufacturing electric vehicles a year ago at the $ 7.6 billion plant, which uses about 1,200 people, and has been associated with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery plant, scheduled to open next year. The search closed the construction of the battery plant.

In a statement to News, LG said he was “monitoring the situation closely and gathering all the relevant details.” He said he could not immediately confirm how many of his employees or workers in Hyundai had been arrested.

“Our top priority is always to guarantee the safety and well -being of our employees and partners. We will cooperate completely with the relevant authorities,” said the company.

ICE Lindsay Williams spokesman confirmed that federal authorities carried out an application operation on the 3,000 -acre site west Savannah. He said the agents focused on the construction site of the battery plant.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was sending officials to the site and urged the United States embassy in Seoul “to exercise extreme caution to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of Korean citizens are not infringed.”

“The economic activities of Korean investment companies and the rights and interests of Korean citizens should not unfairly violate during the application’s application operations,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The patrol soldiers of the state of Georgia blocked the roads to the Hyundai site. The Georgia Public Security Department confirmed that they were sent to help federal authorities.

The video posted on social networks on Thursday showed workers in yellow safety vests aligned as a man with a facial mask and a tactical vest with HSI lyrics, which means national security investigations, he tells them: “We are national security. We have an order of search for the whole site.”

“We need construction to cease immediately,” says the man. “We need all the work to finish on the site at this time.”

The Trump administration has carried out radical ice operations as part of a mass deportation agenda. Immigration officers have farms, construction sites, restaurants and car repair workshops.

The PEW Research Center, citing data from the preliminary census office, says the The American workforce lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January to July. That includes people who are in the country illegally and legal residents.

The Joint Batteries company of Hyundai and LG, HL-GAG Battery Company, said in a statement that it is “cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities” and the construction of the construction of the battery site to help their work.

The operations at the Hyundai EV manufacturing plant were not interrupted, said spokeswoman for the Bianca Johnson plant.

“This did not affect the people who went to work,” Johnson said in an email. “The normal office production and hours had already begun for the day” when the authorities closed the access.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed to this report.

• Immigration
• USA
• Georgia
• Hyundai