U.S. immigration authorities released footage on their website of a September 4 (local time) raid targeting undocumented workers at the Hyundai Motor Group–LG Energy Solution joint battery plant construction site in Georgia. (Image source: website video capture)
WASHINGTON SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — President Donald Trump on Friday defended the large-scale immigration raid at a Hyundai Motor–LG Energy Solution battery plant site in Georgia, describing it as routine enforcement even as the operation threatened to strain ties with South Korea.
Speaking a day after 475 construction workers were detained, Trump said, “They looked like they were illegal immigrants,” and praised Immigration and Customs Enforcement for “just doing its job.”
He added, “We want good, stable workers, but there were a lot of illegals working there — people who came in under Biden.” The remark was seen as both a justification for the crackdown and a pointed attack on his predecessor.
The raid, the largest under Trump’s second term, involved helicopters, armored vehicles, and Humvees. Videos posted on TikTok showed workers fleeing the scene, underscoring the dramatic scale of the operation.
Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp in March (Yonhap)
The timing has amplified political and diplomatic shockwaves. The sweep came just 11 days after President Lee Jae-myung met Trump in Washington and barely a week after Hyundai pledged $26 billion in new U.S. investment over four years.
The Savannah facility, where the raid occurred, is one of Hyundai’s largest projects in America and a flagship symbol of the manufacturing alliance between the two countries.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a rare public rebuke, warning that “the economic activity of our companies and the rights of our citizens must not be unfairly infringed.” Officials dispatched consular teams to the site and conveyed Seoul’s “concerns and regret” to the U.S. Embassy, urging protection of Korean nationals caught in the sweep.
The crackdown has raised fears of delays in Hyundai and LG’s local production plans, as well as uncertainty for Korean engineers and specialists who travel regularly to support U.S. projects. Immigration law could bar some of the detained from reentry, complicating the companies’ staffing.
Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) located in Ellabell, Savannah, Georgia, USA. (Image courtesy of Hyundai Motor)
The incident has also fueled frustration in Seoul, where critics warn that South Korea risks “being punished for investing heavily in America.” Georgia, a cornerstone of Korean manufacturing expansion in the United States, now finds itself at the center of a political storm over Trump’s aggressive immigration agenda.
In a separate exchange with reporters, Trump dismissed a New York Times report alleging a failed U.S. covert mission in North Korea in 2019, saying, “I don’t know anything about it. This is the first I’ve heard.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
