Almost 500 people were arrested in the largest Homeland Security raid in US history as agents descended on a Hyundai factory in Georgia.
Footage from the raid on Thursday showed rows of workers at the factory being lined up and sat on grass outside the facility as masked federal agents watched over them.
Officials said a total of 475 immigrants suspected of working in the US illegally were detained – the vast majority of them from Korea – which represented almost half of the factory’s 1200 workers.
Steven Schrank, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia, told reporters Friday that he was unsure how many exactly were Korean and said no criminal charges had yet been filed.
Many of those who were detained had entered the US illegally while others previously had visas but overstayed their legal work permits, officials said.
Schrank added that the raid was the result of a months-long investigation into the facility, and described the sweep as the largest enforcement operation at a single site in the history of Homeland Security Investigations.
‘This operation underscores our commitment to protecting jobs for Georgians and Americans, ensuring a level playing field for businesses that comply with the law, safeguarding the integrity of our economy and protecting workers from exploitation,’ he said.
The massive raid comes days after the Trump administration announced it was stepping up its deportation efforts and would clear the way to detain as many as 256,000 Venezuelans by ending their temporary protection status.
Pictured: A total of 475 immigrants suspected of working in the US illegally were detained at a Hyundai factory in Georgia, according to Homeland Security officials
The raid was the result of a months-long investigation into the facility, said Steven Schrank, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia
The mass arrests of Korean nationals also prompted a diplomatic dispute as South Korea’s Foreign Ministry dispatched officials to the factory.
The ministry also urged the U.S. Embassy in Seoul ‘to exercise extreme caution to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of Korean citizens are not infringed upon.’
‘The economic activities of Korean investment companies and the rights and interests of Korean citizens must not be unfairly infringed upon during U.S. law enforcement operations,’ the statement read.
Following the raid on the Hyundai factory on Thursday, officials said the detainees would be moved to an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida-Georgia state line.
‘They will be moved based on their individual circumstances beyond that,’ Schrank said.
Following the raid on the Hyundai factory on Thursday, officials said the detainees would be moved to an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida-Georgia state line
Pictured: Detainees from the factory that employs around 1,200 people are being moved by ATF officers
The move was quickly condemned by Yvonne Brooks, the president of Georgia’s chapter of American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), who blasted it as ‘politically motivated.’
‘This raid is the latest in an ongoing campaign of harassment that has targeted immigrant Georgians as they try to earn an honest living,’ she said in a statement, per CBS News.
‘Arresting and detaining workers, 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 workload burden on their coworkers.’
The Hyundai plant where the raid occurred cost upwards of $7.6 billion and employed around 1,200 people, and had been touted by Georgia officials as one of the most significant economic projects in the state’s history.
Hyundai began manufacturing electric vehicles at the plant a year ago, but construction was shut down by the raid.
