On September 4, 2025, a sweeping immigration enforcement raid at the Hyundai-LG battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia, sent shockwaves through diplomatic, business, and local communities on both sides of the Pacific. More than 300 South Korean workers were detained in the operation, many of them shackled and marched onto buses in scenes that quickly circulated across international news outlets and social media. The fallout from the raid has not only strained the close partnership between South Korea and the United States but has also raised pressing questions about the future of foreign investment, local economic development, and the treatment of skilled workers in America’s manufacturing heartland.
According to CNN, the plant at the center of the controversy is a flagship project: a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Co. and LG Energy Solution, part of a sprawling $7.6 billion manufacturing complex that had been widely touted by Georgia politicians as a transformative boon for the region. The project, which received more than $2 billion in taxpayer-subsidized incentives, was expected to generate thousands of jobs and cement Georgia’s status as a hub for electric vehicle production. But even before the raid, local resentment simmered. In the nearby port city of Savannah—where over half the population is Black and most elected officials are Democrats—leaders and residents voiced frustration that too few of the coveted jobs were going to locals, as reported by Bloomberg.
The ICE operation, described by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung as “one of the largest by US immigration enforcement agencies in recent years,” targeted workers at the plant who were either alleged to have overstayed visas, entered the country illegally, or were in the US under the Visa Waiver Program. “When you build a factory or install equipment at a factory, you need technicians, but the United States doesn’t have that workforce and yet they won’t issue visas to let our people stay and do the work,” Lee said at a press conference, according to United Press International. He warned that, “Under the current circumstances, Korean companies will be very hesitant to make direct investments in the United States.”
The images of South Korean nationals in chains—released by ICE and widely broadcast—sparked outrage and disbelief in South Korea. “It was like ‘a slap in the face’ moment,” Choi Jong Kun, South Korea’s former First Vice Foreign Minister, told CNN. “Those plants didn’t have to be built there. They were built because the US wanted them. And yet to say Korean workers must be replaced with American workers for facility construction—I see that as completely out of touch with reality.”
Within days, the diplomatic strain was palpable. South Korean businesses suspended at least 22 projects in the United States in protest, reported The Korea Economic Daily. President Lee Jae Myung publicly urged Washington to “normalize the visa process related to investment, whether by securing sufficient visa quotas or by creating a new category of visa.” The South Korean foreign ministry echoed these demands, emphasizing that “swift and safe movement of our nationals should be ensured.”
Despite the scale of the raid, federal data from the first six months of the second Trump administration showed only four South Korean nationals were arrested by ICE in Georgia out of 5,670 total apprehensions, according to federal immigration records. Yet, as Reuters noted, South Koreans improbably became the face of immigration enforcement in the state, a development that many in the Korean-American community found both shocking and deeply troubling.
The detained workers, numbering 316 South Korean nationals and 14 others, were transported back to South Korea after a tense week of negotiations. Notably, US President Donald Trump temporarily paused the deportation process “in order to listen to our position on whether it would be possible for our nationals, who’re all skilled workers, to continue working in the US,” the South Korean foreign ministry said. Ultimately, South Korea insisted on the workers’ prompt and safe return, a position the US agreed to, with Trump instructing authorities to transport the workers without handcuffs or other physical restraints, per Seoul’s request.
The controversy exposed longstanding tensions over the US visa process for foreign skilled workers. “It has been common practice for South Korean nationals to perform this type of work at US plants and factories,” Cho Hee-kyoung, a law professor at Seoul’s Hongik University, told CNN. “Although it wasn’t strictly in compliance with the rules and regulations, everybody basically had turned a blind eye to it because of the shortage of H1 visas.” Lawyers for some of the detained insisted their clients were legally authorized to work under visa waivers, assigned to brief, specialized tasks essential for getting the plant operational.
Some US lawmakers have sought to address the lack of visas for South Korean workers. A bill called the “Partner with Korea Act,” introduced in the House in July, would create 15,000 E-4 highly skilled work visas specifically for Korean nationals. However, as CNN noted, the bill has stalled in committee and has yet to become law.
Meanwhile, the broader context of US-South Korea relations looms large. South Korea is America’s sixth-largest trading partner and a critical military ally, with approximately 28,500 US troops stationed on the Korean peninsula. Earlier this year, President Trump announced a sweeping new trade deal that includes $350 billion in South Korean investments in the US, aiming to create more American jobs. But as Chang Sang-sik, head of research at the Korea International Trade Association, told the Financial Times, “It is asking Korea to invest more in the US, while treating Korean workers like criminals even when it is well aware that they are needed for these projects to happen.”
The Korean-American community in Georgia, which has grown and evolved over decades, was left shaken. “It’s really no way to treat your friends,” Cho Hee-kyoung remarked. Community leaders in Savannah and Atlanta described a sense of betrayal and deep concern about the future, both for business and for the fabric of trust between the two nations.
As the dust settles, the episode has prompted soul-searching on both sides of the Pacific. In South Korea, the government has called for formal negotiations to secure visa quotas for skilled workers and ensure treatment “that matches the scale of our investments there,” as reported by Chosun Ilbo. In the US, the raid has reignited debates over immigration policy, local job creation, and the balance between national security and economic growth.
For now, the hundreds of Korean workers have returned home, but the questions raised—about partnership, fairness, and the future of global manufacturing—remain unresolved.
