On the Dash:
- ICE raided Hyundai’s Georgia EV site, halting battery plant construction and detaining about 450 workers.
- The raid targeted alleged unlawful employment practices, with Hyundai and LG pausing construction and cooperating.
- Hyundai’s EV production continued without interruption.
U.S. immigration authorities raided Hyundai Motor Group’s electric vehicle manufacturing site in southeast Georgia on Thursday, halting construction of an adjacent EV battery plant in one of the largest workplace enforcement actions in the agency’s history. The operation at the 3,000-acre site west of Savannah resulted in the apprehension of approximately 450 workers.
The Associated Press reported that the raid focused on the construction area for the joint Hyundai-LG Energy Solution battery plant, which is scheduled to open next year. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Lindsay Williams told the AP that federal agents executed a search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged unlawful employment practices and other federal crimes.
Georgia State Patrol troopers blocked access to the site, with multiple federal agencies, including the FBI, DEA, and ATF, assisting in the operation. Social media footage showed workers ordered to stop construction while agents with Homeland Security Investigations presented the search warrant. Hyundai spokesperson Bianca Johnson told the AP that EV manufacturing operations continued and production was not interrupted, as normal office and plant activities had already begun.
The company said its joint venture with LG Energy Solution is cooperating fully with federal authorities and has paused construction to assist the investigation, according to AP reporting.
Hyundai’s plant, which began producing electric vehicles about a year ago, employs roughly 1,200 people and represents a $7.6 billion investment. Georgia officials have touted the site as the largest economic development project in state history.
The raid comes amid a broader federal enforcement initiative targeting unauthorized employment across U.S. industries, including farms, restaurants, and construction sites. Thursday’s enforcement action marks one of the most significant immigration raids at a single workplace in ICE’s 22-year history.
