A week after the largest immigration operation in the history of Homeland Security took place in at Hyundai-LG Battery plant in south Georgia, more than 300 of those detained are on their way back to South Korea.
The Sept. 4 operation netted 475 arrests, most of them South Koreans, authorities said in a news conference.
A Korean Air plane is at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport awaiting 316 of the detainees, according to CBS News. The network also reported that the detainees were loaded onto buses and were on their way to Atlanta.
Authorities have not said much about the operation since a news conference last week.
“As we had determined through our investigation in advance and certainly yesterday, there was a network of subcontractors and subcontractors for the subcontractors there, so the employees worked for a variety of different companies that were on the site,” said Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations for Georgia and Alabama during the news conference. “It was not just for the parent company but also the subcontractors.”
The FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Georgia State Patrol were also involved in the operation.
The Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution announced the battery plant in 2023. The plant will produce batteries for vehicles produced by the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America.
Gov. Brian Kemp has touted the state’s relationship with South Korea. The Georgia Department of Economic Development called South Korea “longtime partners in prosperity” in a post on its webpage.
Kemp said in a statement to Savannah’s WJCL, “Georgia has always worked to maintain a strong relationship with the Republic of Korea and Korean partners like Hyundai, stretching back 40 years to the establishment of Georgia’s trade office in Seoul We are thankful they are reiterating their commitment to adhere to all state and federal laws, just as we remain committed to not allowing this unfortunate incident to undo the decades of mutually beneficial partnerships we’ve built together.”
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in a televised news conference Thursday that the raid could chill business with America.
“Companies will inevitably be concerned about any disadvantages or difficulties they may face in building factories over there,” Lee said. “Under current circumstances, Korean companies may become hesitant in making direct investments in the United States.”
