In a wide range Migration The federal authorities announced that the chimneys in a huge Hyundai facility in Georgia on Thursday, 475 migrants suspected of living and working in the United States were arrested illegally.
Stephen Sheeranik, the private agent responsible for internal security investigations in Georgia and Alabama, told reporters on Friday that the majority of the detainees were Korean citizens, but he did not know exactly their number. They have worked in a variety of different companies on the site, including subcontractors.
South Korea Foreign Minister Chu Hyun said on Saturday that more than 300 South Koreans were among the 475 detained people.
No criminal charges were announced during the press conference on Friday. Shernche said that the survey was conducted as part of a month’s investigation in the allegations of illegal employment practices and other federal crimes. He described a raid on Thursday as the largest enforcement in one location in the history of internal security investigations, a unit from the United States for Migration and Customs.
“This process confirms our commitment to protecting jobs for Georgian and Americans, ensuring a flat stadium for companies that comply with the law, protecting the safety of our economy and protecting workers from exploitation,” said Sherrank.
Shernche said that on Thursday, some of the detainees entered the United States illegally, and accused others of overcoming their visas or violating visa exemptions through work. Most of the detainees were moved to a ice facility in Volkston, Georgia, near the Florida State line.
“They will be transferred based on their individual circumstances after that,” Sherran said.
Ice said in a statement on Friday night that their arrest during the operation “found that they were working illegally, in violation of the conditions of their visas and/or their conditions.” Ace said that the green card holder of Mexico was arrested after being determined to remove from the United States based on multiple criminal condemnation.
Ice said that the investigation is continuing, and the arrests and additional charges are possible.
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In an ICE statement on Friday night, Charnk said that the operation “sends a clear message that those who take advantage of the regime and undermine the workforce will be held accountable.”
“We welcome all companies that want to invest in the United States, and if they need to bring workers to build or other projects, this is a good thing – but they need to do so in the legal way,” Sherran said.
The head of the Georgia branch is called AFL-CIO called Raid political motives and said that Ice is escalating in the workplace throughout the state.
“This raid is the latest in a continuous harassment campaign targeting the Georgian immigrants as they are trying to win a sincere life,” IPhone Brooks said in a statement. “The arrest of the detainees and the detainees, who are exploited every day and risk their lives every day on the job, creates an atmosphere of fear that terrorizes workers and their families and increases the burden of work on their colleagues at work.”
The operation included law enforcement agents from multiple federal agencies, including ICE, border patrol, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Tax Authority, alcohol office, tobacco, firearms, and explosives, which confirms the nature of the government at the Trump level of the Trump administration’s suppression illegally. Migration.
Earlier, ATF office said that 450 people were arrested in Published on social mediaWhich included pictures of the process.
The survey process targeted one of the largest and most industrial sites in Georgia, which the governor of the state described Brian Kemp and other officials as the largest economic development project in the history of the state. The Hyundai Motor Group group, the largest automotive company in South Korea, started manufacturing electric cars a year ago in the factory of $ 7.6 billion, which works about 1,200 people, and has been partnership with LG Energy Solution to build a neighboring batteries factory, scheduled for next year. The research closed construction on the battery factory.
ATF 
Hyundai Motor Company said in A. statement He was aware of the process and was “closely monitoring the situation while working to understand the specific conditions.”
“Based on our current understanding, none of the detainees are used directly by Hyundai Motor Company,” he said. “Hyundai is committed to full compliance with all laws and regulations in every market in which we work. This includes the requirements for recruitment and immigration laws. We expect the same commitment from all our partners, suppliers, contractors and sub -contractors.”
The company said: “We are reviewing our operations to ensure that all parties that work in our projects maintain the same high standards for the legal compliance that we ask ourselves. This includes a comprehensive examination of employment practices by contractors and subcontractors.” The company said, partly, that it will be “investigated to ensure all suppliers and their inner stakeholders with all laws and appropriate.”
In a statement to Associated Press, LG said it “is closely monitoring the situation and collecting all relevant details.” She immediately could not confirm the number of her employees or Hyundai workers who were detained.
“Our top priority is to ensure the safety and welfare of our employees and partners. We will completely cooperate with the relevant authorities,” the company said.
ICE spokesman Lindsey Williams confirmed that the federal authorities had an enforcement in a 3000 -acre location west of Safana. He said that the agents were focusing on the construction site for the battery factory.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was sending officials to the site and urged the American embassy in Seoul “to exercise great caution to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of the Korean citizens are not violated.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “The economic activities of Korean investment companies and the rights and interests of Korean citizens should not be violated during the American law enforcement operations.”
Georgia state patrol soldiers prevented the roads to Hyundai. The Ministry of Public Safety in Georgia confirmed that it was sent to assist the federal authorities.
The video posted on social media on Thursday showed that workers in yellow safety jackets are lining up as a man wearing a face mask and a tactical jacket with HSI messages, which means investigations into internal security, telling them: “We are internal security. We have an inspection note for the entire site.”
“We need to stop immediately,” says the man in the video. “We need all work to end the site now.”
The Trump administration carried out sweeping icy operations as part of the mass deportation agenda. Immigration officers raided farm, construction sites, restaurants and car repair shops.
The Pew Research Center says, citing the data of the First Statistical Office, The US workforce has lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January to July. This includes illegal persons in the country as well as the legal population.
In a statement, HL-Ga Battery Compa, a company, said in a statement that it was “fully cooperating with the competent authorities” and stopped creating the battery site to help their work.
Factory spokesman Bianca Johnson said the operations at the EV manufacturer in Hyundai were not boycotted.
“This did not affect the people working at work,” Johnson said in an email. “Production and normal working hours have already started for today,” when the authorities closed the arrival.
Hyundai is located in Bryan County, which has witnessed an increase in its population by more than a quarter in the early twenties of the twentieth century and reached about 47,000 populations in 2023, and the latest data data is available. The Asian province’s residents went from 1.5 % in 2018 to 2.2 % in 2023, and the growth was primarily among people of Indian origin, according to the numbers of the statistical office.
Camello Monteoya Galvose contributed to this report.