The largest immigration raid of President Donald Trump’s second term has sent shockwaves through the corridors of power in both Washington and Seoul, threatening to chill a $350 billion investment agreement and raising urgent questions about the future of global business in America. The raid, which unfolded at the construction site of a Hyundai-LG battery plant in Georgia, resulted in the arrest of 475 workers—most of them South Korean nationals—and has cast a long shadow over one of the most significant foreign investment deals in recent U.S. history.
According to CNN, the operation was carried out by nearly 500 armed officers and came less than two weeks after President Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met in the Oval Office. At that meeting, Seoul committed a staggering $350 billion to expand manufacturing operations on American soil, a move celebrated as a win for Trump’s agenda of rebuilding American manufacturing and creating jobs for U.S. workers. But now, the very foundation of that deal appears to be trembling.
For Korean conglomerates like Hyundai and LG, the process of setting up massive manufacturing projects in the U.S. is far from straightforward. As reported by the Financial Times and cited by CNN, these companies often need to bring in their own skilled workers to install proprietary equipment and train local employees. However, the U.S. government has long failed to facilitate short-term visas for such workers, leaving companies in what one senior Korean official described as an “impossible position.” Without a congressional fix, these firms have resorted to bringing in workers under less-than-above-board visas—a practice that, until now, was something of an open secret.
Jonathan Cleave, managing director for Korea at Intralink, a consultancy that supports foreign investment in the U.S., told the Financial Times that American authorities, especially in Georgia, had historically “turned a blind eye” to the influx of Korean workers with questionable documentation, especially during short-term bursts of construction activity. But that era appears to have ended with a bang, not a whimper.
Georgia’s response to the raid was swift and unequivocal. “In Georgia, we will always enforce the law, including all state and federal immigration laws,” a spokesperson for Governor Brian Kemp said in a statement quoted by CNN. “The Department of Public Safety coordinated with ICE to provide all necessary support for this operation, the latest in a long line of cooperation and partnership between state law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement.”
There remain significant questions about the details of the raid. Of the 475 people arrested, around 300 were South Korean nationals, while many of the remaining 175 were Latino workers, according to several who spoke to CNN. A Hyundai spokesperson clarified that none of the detained individuals were direct employees of the carmaker. Instead, about 50 worked for LG Energy Solutions, and another 250 were employed by HL-GA Battery Company, a joint venture between Hyundai and LG.
The diplomatic fallout was immediate and intense. As reported by Bloomberg, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, who had built a reputation for his deft handling of U.S.-Korea relations, was caught off guard by the raid. He quickly dispatched his top diplomat, Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, to the United States to negotiate the return of the detained workers. South Korean officials announced plans to charter a flight to bring the workers home as soon as the week of September 9, 2025.
The images of South Korean workers shackled at the wrists, waist, and ankles as they were loaded onto buses dominated headlines across South Korea. The Washington Post quoted Choi Jong-gun, a former vice foreign minister, expressing outrage: “I’m really speechless and furious. We are there to help boost up American industries… and once they are set up, there will be good infrastructure for increasing American employment. But what we saw was those Koreans chained with handcuffs and treated as if they were terrorists or a bunch of thugs.”
The raid has not only strained diplomatic ties but also cast doubt on the future of South Korea’s $350 billion investment plan in the U.S. and a carefully negotiated tariff deal reached in July 2025. The presence of South Korean workers and subcontractors is crucial for getting these manufacturing sites operational, and the sudden crackdown could jeopardize the timeline and feasibility of these projects.
Hyundai, for its part, has tried to project stability in the face of uncertainty. The company told CNN that its “US investment commitment remains unchanged,” though it did acknowledge that some business trips to the U.S. would now be “subject to internal review.” The chill in the air was palpable even before the raid, with Bloomberg reporting that Samsung had already issued internal guidelines limiting U.S. business travel on short-term visas to no more than two weeks.
The broader context here is one of growing tension between the Trump administration’s push for domestic job creation and the practical realities of global business. For years, America has courted foreign investment with promises of access to its vast consumer market, but the lack of a streamlined process for short-term work visas has created a persistent obstacle. Companies are caught between the demands of U.S. policymakers for local job creation and the operational need to bring in specialized workers from abroad.
The raid has also exposed a longstanding pattern of selective enforcement. As Jonathan Cleave noted, there was a tacit understanding that short-term foreign workers were a necessary part of large-scale manufacturing projects. But the Trump administration’s decision to enforce immigration laws so aggressively—and so publicly—has upended that status quo.
For South Korea, the incident is more than a diplomatic embarrassment; it’s a potential economic setback. The country is America’s sixth-largest trading partner and a key ally in the region. The $350 billion investment package was seen as a testament to the strength of the bilateral relationship, but the raid has introduced a note of uncertainty that could reverberate for years.
Meanwhile, American officials remain unapologetic. Georgia’s government has reiterated its commitment to enforcing immigration laws, and there is little indication that Congress will move swiftly to address the short-term visa issue that lies at the heart of the controversy.
As the dust settles, companies with global ambitions are left to ponder their next moves. Will the U.S. remain an attractive destination for foreign investment, or will the specter of immigration crackdowns drive companies elsewhere? Only time will tell, but one thing is clear: the rules of the game have changed, and the stakes have never been higher.
In the wake of the Georgia raid, the world is watching to see how both Washington and Seoul navigate the fallout. For now, the future of one of the world’s largest manufacturing partnerships hangs in the balance.
