A South Korean worker at a massive car plant in Georgia has described the panic that broke out when US immigration agents stormed the site and detained hundreds of people.
The man, who asked not to be named, was inside the factory — jointly operated by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution — when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carried out the raid on Thursday morning.
More than 400 federal and state officers surrounded the $7.6bn complex before moving in around 10:30am. By the end of the operation, 475 workers had been taken into custody, including about 300 South Koreans.
“Multiple phone lines were ringing, all saying the same thing: shut down operations,” the worker recalled. “Families were calling too, but the workers had left their phones behind in the office, which was locked.”
Some tried to run. According to US officials, a number of workers jumped into a sewage pond in an attempt to escape. Others were separated by nationality and visa status, lined up, processed, and loaded onto buses.
ICE later said the raid — dubbed Operation Low Voltage — was the largest single-site immigration enforcement action in Homeland Security’s history.
Inside the Raid
Video posted on social media shows men standing in rows inside the plant as a masked agent, wearing a vest marked “HSI” (Homeland Security Investigations), announces: “We have a search warrant for the whole site. Construction must stop immediately.”
ICE released its own footage showing armored vehicles, chained detainees, and agents hauling men from a nearby river.
On Friday, ICE official Steven Schrank said all those detained were “illegally present in the United States,” either by overstaying visas, working without authorization, or entering unlawfully.
Worker’s Perspective
The South Korean employee who spoke to us insisted most of the detained workers were legitimate specialists, mainly mechanics installing production lines, but said many may have been on the wrong type of visas or had expired permits.
He described the raid as “shocking but not surprising” under President Trump’s renewed immigration crackdown. “Their slogan is ‘America First.’ If you work legally in America, you won’t have an issue,” he said.
The man warned the fallout could make global companies think twice before investing in the US. “After this, a lot of firms will hesitate. Finding skilled local replacements for those specialists won’t be easy,” he added.
Hyundai and LG Respond
Both Hyundai and LG Energy Solution stressed that the detained workers were not directly employed by them but by contractors. In a joint statement, they said they were “cooperating fully” with authorities and had paused construction to assist the investigation.
Hyundai added: “We are committed to full compliance with all laws and regulations in every market where we operate.”
Community Impact
The vast Hyundai-LG facility in Ellabell, Georgia — covering 3,000 acres and producing electric vehicles — is the state’s largest ever economic development project. Governor Brian Kemp has hailed it as a milestone for Georgia’s economy.
But the raid has rattled the local Korean community. Cho Dahye, president of the Korean American Association of Greater Savannah, said the images of workers being detained were deeply unsettling. “It’s very shocking to me and to the image of a global, well-known company,” she said.
Despite visible calm when reporters visited over the weekend, the raid has left behind unease. For many, it highlighted the risks foreign workers face and the political pressure now reshaping America’s immigration policies.
