Largest Immigration Raid in Decades Shakes Hyundai Project and Local Families


This image from video provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via DVIDS shows manufacturing plant employees being escorted outside the Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicle plant, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Ellabell, Ga. (Corey Bullard/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement via AP)

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	Largest Immigration Raid in Decades Shakes Hyundai Project and Local Families Derick Adams - Crime/Law Tell Us USA News Network ELLABELL, GA - A major immigration raid at a Hyundai construction site in Ellabell, Georgia on September 4, 2025, has left families reeling and local communities in crisis as nearly 500 workers—mostly foreign nationals—were detained in what officials call the largest worksite enforcement operation in two decades. For advocacy groups like the Grow Initiative, directed by Rosie Harrison, the days since the raid have been marked by nonstop calls from panicked families desperately seeking information and assistance. “Families are experiencing a new level of crisis,” Harrison reports, as many lose not only primary breadwinners but their sense of security. Details of the Raid The raid, involving agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, and other agencies, targeted the site of a $7.6 billion electric vehicle battery plant jointly owned by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution. Authorities arrested 475 workers, most of them South Korean citizens, as well as individuals from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, and several Asian countries. Officials allege that many were working without proper documentation, and dramatic accounts emerged—including workers hiding for hours in air ducts, remote corners of the property, and even a sewage pond to avoid detention. Impact on Workers and Families While more than 300 detained South Koreans have since been returned to South Korea, hundreds of other workers—many with families in the U.S.—remain in legal limbo or are unaccounted for, according to local attorneys and nonprofit advocates. Atlanta lawyer Charles Kuck, who represents both Korean and non-Korean detainees, says some clients had valid work authorizations, including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and asylum seekers, raising questions about the criteria used to decide who was arrested and who was released. Some families, reportedly dependent on the detained members for transportation and income, have been left without access to basics like food and baby formula. Community and Diplomatic Fallout Both legal and social service organizations, such as Migrant Equity Southeast, have been overwhelmed with pleas for help, fielding urgent calls day and night from people searching for missing loved ones. The raid’s aftermath has thrown a harsh spotlight on the broader reach of immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, fueling concerns about local economies already hit by impending layoffs at other major employers in the area. On the diplomatic front, the operation has strained U.S.-South Korea relations, prompting talks about investment security and worker visa programs. The Uncertainty Ahead With key federal agencies declining to clarify how many detainees remain in custody or why individuals with legal work status were included in the sweep, anxiety continues to mount among affected families and communities. As advocates and families await answers, the human cost of the crackdown—lost livelihoods, fractured families, and widespread fear—remains the starkest legacy of the largest immigration raid in recent Georgia history.