Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to foreign companies to focus on hiring American employees after immigration agents raided a Hyundai plant and arrested 475 employees.
Thursday’s raid on the Hyundai Battery Plant in Georgia marked the largest Homeland Security raid in US history, as footage emerged of rows of workers being lined up and shuttled to a nearby grass patch watched closely by federal agents.
In all, 475 immigrants suspected of working in the US illegally were detained – the vast majority from South Korea. This represented almost half of the 1,200 strong work force.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday night, Trump used the raid as a warning for other foreign companies operating on US land.
‘Following the Immigration Enforcement Operation on the Hyundai Battery Plant in Georgia, I am hereby calling on all Foreign Companies investing in the United States to please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws,’ Trump warned.
‘Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build World Class products.’
Trump vowed to ‘make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so’ – with a caveat that he expected investment in US employees in return.
‘What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers. Together, we will all work hard to make our Nation not only productive, but closer in unity than ever before.’
President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to foreign companies to focus on hiring American employees after immigration agents raided a Hyundai plant and arrested 475 employees
Thursday’s raid on the Hyundai Battery Plant in Georgia marked the largest Homeland Security raid in US history
Trump’s statement comes after South Korean officials confirmed as many as 300 of the workers will be released and supported to return home to Korea.
Kang Hoon-sik, chief of staff for President Lee Jae Myung, said South Korea and the US had finalized negotiations on the workers’ release.
He said South Korea plans to send a charter plane to bring the workers home as soon as remaining administrative steps are completed.
The operation was the latest in a long line of workplace raids conducted as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda.
But the one Thursday is especially distinct because of its large size and because the targeted site has been touted as Georgia’s largest economic development project.
The raid stunned many in South Korea because the country is a key US ally. It agreed in July to purchase $100 billion in US energy and make a $350 billion investment in the US in return for the US lowering tariff rates.
Many of those who were detained had entered the US illegally while others previously had visas but overstayed their legal work permits, officials said.
Steven Schrank, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia, added that the raid was the result of a months-long investigation into the facility.
Footage emerged of rows of workers being lined up and shuttled to a nearby patch watched closely by federal agents
Trump’s statement comes after South Korean officials confirmed as many as 300 of the workers will be released and supported to return home to Korea
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
He 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.
Korean ministry officials also urged the US 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 US 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.
Pictured: Detainees from the factory that employs around 1,200 people are being moved by ATF officers
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
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 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.
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