Immigration raid at the Hyundai Metaplant site in Georgia.

Sept 2025 : 475 employees were arrested at Georgia Hyundai Metaplant site, which is the biggest single-site immigration operation in the history of the Homeland Security Investigations. The majority are Korean nationals, said Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of HSI in Alabama and Georgia. He said no charges have been filed, though a host of other federal agencies were also involved.

Previously, federal officials estimated 450 people were apprehended at the massive site in Ellabell, about 25 miles west of Savannah, Georgia. The operation marks one of the latest examples of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown at workplaces across the country. All 475 people taken into custody were illegally present in the US, Schrank said. He said some had overstayed their visas.

The sprawling, 2,900-acre Metaplant has two parts: a Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing site, and an EV battery plant that’s a joint venture between Hyundai and LG. The raid halted construction of the EV battery plant. The facility has been touted by Georgia’s governor as the largest economic development site in the state’s history. Hyundai is cooperating with law enforcement and is “committed to abide by all labour and immigration regulations”, spokesperson Michael Stewart said.

The raids come as Chicago leaders are preparing for a possible National Guard deployment in step with an expected immigration enforcement operation in the city. At the Georgia site, masked and armed agents gave orders to construction workers wearing hard hats and safety vests as they lined up while officers raided the facility. ICE and Homeland Security Investigations were accompanied by the Georgia State Patrol, the FBI, DEA, ATF and other agencies in executing a search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into “allegations of unlawful employment practices and other serious federal crimes”, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. “Together, we are sending a clear and unequivocal message: those who exploit our workforce, undermine our economy, and violate federal laws will be held accountable”.

ATF Atlanta said the operation led “to the apprehension of 450 unlawful aliens, emphasising our commitment to community safety”.

Republican Governor Brian Kemp had advocated for the Hyundai Metaplant attributing it to be a boon for the Georgia economy. In 2022, Hyundai announced an agreement with the state of Georgia to build Hyundai’s “first dedicated fully electrified vehicle and battery manufacturing facilities in the United States” in Bryan County, the company said.

The Metaplant was expected to create 8,500 jobs. “With the first 500 employees trained, and more soon to join them, this is another major milestone as we continue our momentum towards the full opening of the Hyundai Metaplant!” Kemp had posted on social media last year.

In another immigration raid in New York on Thursday morning, federal agents arrived at the Nutrition Bar Confectioners plant in Cato and questioned “virtually the entire workforce,” according to Rural & Migrant Ministry, whose staff witnessed the raid. During the raid workers were taken into the kitchen area of the plant and “questioned one by one over the course of many hours,” the group later informed press officials. The group estimates that more than 70 employees were questioned and “nearly all” were then arrested and taken to the nearby Oswego Detention Centre.

ICE confirmed to Media outlets that it has carried out a “court-authorised enforcement action” in Cato. Employees told Media that around 60 workers were detained. Mark Schmidt, the owner of Nutrition Bar Confectioners, told the media outlets that all his workers had legal documentation to work in the US. “We’ve done everything we can to vet people we hire”, he said. Schmidt described the ICE raid as “overkill.” His son Lenny Schmidt, the company’s vice president, told the scene was “almost theatrical”, describing police dogs and all-terrain vehicles involved in the operation. “It could have been handled so much more humanely and decently”, he said. “This kind of raid, you feel like it’s a drug bust or a human trafficking situation”.

Team Maverick