Around 475 people were arrested during an immigration raid in an extensive site in Georgia where the South Korean automotive company Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles, according to a national security official.
Steven Schrank, a special agent in charge of national security investigations, said at a press conference on Friday that most of the people were from South Korea.
“This operation underlines our commitment to jobs for Georgians and Americans,” said Schrank. “In fact, this was the operation of application of the law in a single larger place in the history of national security research.”
The investigation has been ongoing for several months, period during which the authorities have received clues from community members and extrabajadores, he said.
The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of South Korea, Lee Jaewoong, described the number of South Koreans detained as "large", although he did not provide an exact figure.
He added that detained workers were part of a "network of subcontractors" and that employees worked for a variety of different companies on the site.
Thursday's raid was aimed at one of the largest and highest -profile manufacturing sites in Georgia, promoted by Governor Brian Kemp and other officials such as the maximum economic development project in the state's history. Hyundai Motor Group, the largest South Korean car manufacturer, began to manufacture electric vehicles a year ago at the 7.6 billion dollars plant, which uses about 1,200 people, and has been associated with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery plant, whose inauguration is planned for next year.
In a statement to The Associated Press, LG indicated that he was "closely monitoring the situation and collecting all the relevant details." He indicated that he could not confirm how many of his employees or workers in Hyundai had been arrested.
"Our highest priority is always to guarantee the safety and well -being of our employees and partners. We will fully cooperate with the corresponding authorities," said the company.
So far, Hyundai's South Korean office has not responded to comments requests.
The spokesman for the Customs Immigration and Control Service (ICE), Lindsay Williams, confirmed that the federal authorities carried out an operation of application of the law at the site of 1,214 hectares (3,000 acres) west of Savannah, Georgia. He explained that the agents focused on the construction site of the battery plant.
In a televised statement, Lee said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea already takes active measures to address the case, has sent diplomats of its embassy in Washington and the Consulate in Atlanta to the site, and plans to form an response team in the place focused on the local mission.
"The commercial activities of our investors and the rights of our citizens should not be unfairly violated in the process of applying the United States Law," said Lee.
In a statement, the National Security Department explained that the agents executed a registration order "as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into accusations of illegal work practices and other serious federal crimes."
President Donald Trump's government has undertaken important ICE operations as part of a mass deportation agenda. Immigration agents have raised farms, construction sites, restaurants and vehicular repair workshops.
Citing preliminary data from the Census Office, the PEW Research Center He affirms that the United States workforce lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January to July. That includes people who are in the country without legal authorization, as well as legal residents.
The joint Batteries company of Hyundai and LG, HL-GAG Battery Company, stressed in a statement that "fully cooperates with the corresponding authorities" and paused the construction of the battery site to collaborate in their work.
The operations at the Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing plant were not interrupted, said its spokesman, Bianca Johnson.
What is known about the raid against migrants in Hyundai plant in Georgia, EU?
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