THE SPRAWLING MANUFACTURING SITE
The raid targeted a manufacturing site widely considered one of Georgia’s largest and most high profile.
Hyundai Motor Group started manufacturing EVs at the US$7.6 billion plant a year ago. Today, the site employs about 1,200 people in a largely rural area about 40km west of Savannah.
Agents specifically honed in on an adjacent plant that is still under construction at which Hyundai has partnered with LG Energy Solution to produce batteries that power EVs.
The Hyundai site is in Bryan County, which saw its population increase by more than a quarter in the early 2020s and stood at almost 47,000 residents in 2023, the most recent year data is available. The county’s Asian population went from 1.5 per cent in 2018 to 2.2 per cent in 2023, and the growth was primarily among people of Indian descent, according to Census Bureau figures.
LARGEST SINGLE-SITE ENFORCEMENT OPERATION
From farms and construction sites to restaurants and auto repair shops, there have been a wide array of workplace raids undertaken in this administration. But most have been smaller, including a raid the same day as the Georgia one in which federal officers took away dozens of workers from a snack-bar manufacturer in Cato, New York.
Other recent high-profile raids have included one in July targeting a legal marijuana farm northwest of Los Angeles. More than 360 people were arrested in one of the largest raids since Trump took office in January. Another one took place at an Omaha. Nebraska, meat production plant and involved dozens of workers being taken away.
Schrank described the one in Georgia as the “largest single site enforcement operation” in the agency’s two-decade history.
The majority of the people detained are Koreans. During the 12-month period that ended Sep 30, 2024, only 46 Koreans were deported during out of more than 270,000 removals for all nationalities, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Community members and advocates have mixed reactions
Kemp and other Georgia Republican officials, who had courted Hyundai and celebrated the EV plant’s opening, issued statements Friday saying all employers in the state were expected to follow the law.
The nonprofit legal advocacy organisation Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta described the raid in a joint statement as “unacceptable.”
“Our communities know the workers targeted at Hyundai are everyday people who are trying to feed their families, build stronger communities, and work toward a better future,” the statement said.
Sammie Rentz opened the Viet Huong Supermarket less than 4.8 km from the Hyundai site six months ago and said he worries business may not bounce back after falling off sharply since the raid.
“I’m concerned. Koreans are very proud people, and I bet they’re not appreciating what just happened. I’m worried about them cutting and running, or starting an exit strategy,” he said.
Ellabell resident Tanya Cox, who lives less than a mile from the Hyundai site, said she had no ill feelings toward Korean nationals or other immigrant workers at the site. But few neighbors were employed there, and she felt like more construction jobs at the battery plant should have gone to local residents.
“I don’t see how it’s brought a lot of jobs to our community or nearby communities,” Cox said.
