On Thursday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a historic raid at a factory still being built in Georgia. The joint operation led to the detention of hundreds of workers. This facility is expected to produce lithium-ion batteries for Hyundai and Kia EVs. It has run into an unforeseen obstacle due to federal action.
The operation, led by Homeland Security Investigations, focused its attention on the entire labor force at the factory location. Federal officers from multiple agencies joined with Georgia Department of Public Safety and Georgia State Troopers for the operation. Taken together, they accounted for more than 450 arrests. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives out of Atlanta verified these numbers.
Of those in detention, around 300 are South Korean citizens. ICE has detained these South Koreans in an ICE detention center. The South Korean foreign ministry, for its part, expressed concern over how the raid would impact its citizens. They are warning that this incident could result in significant future diplomatic fallout.
This raid is potentially one of the greatest challenges to Hyundai’s audacious $4.3 billion investment in Georgia. The project, which is a partnership with LG Energy Solution (LGES), aims to create capacity for making electric vehicle (EV) battery cells. The facility is expected to be Georgia’s all-time largest industrial investment. Both New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul and Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp hailed this agreement when it was first announced in 2021 as a massive economic win for their states.
The context around the raid makes clear that this was a specific example of a larger effort. It was authorities’ stated goal to enforce immigration laws and promote compliance with labor laws. The scope of the operation underscores the federal government’s commitment to addressing illegal employment practices within industries reliant on immigrant labor, particularly in sectors experiencing rapid growth and investment.
Beyond the legal and economic consequences, the fallout from this operation spreads elsewhere. The arrest of nearly 700 state workers raises serious concerns about the new dynamic in Georgia’s labor market. It would not only damage the environment but cause significant uncertainty for the project timelines of Hyundai and LG Energy Solution. The Georgia factory will be critical in charging up batteries for the expected tsunami of electric vehicle sales. This initiative is a perfect complement to national goals to accelerate clean energy deployment.