Hundreds of undocumented immigrants apprehended in massive ICE raid at Hyundai plant in Georgia

[rangerrebew]

Hundreds of undocumented immigrants apprehended in massive ICE raid at Hyundai plant in Georgia
Story by Chris Boyette, Emma Tucker, Karina Tsui, Diego Mendoza, CNN • 56m

Hundreds of undocumented immigrants were apprehended during a sweeping immigration raid at a Georgia manufacturing facility Thursday, marking what appears to be one of the largest ICE raids at a single site in the 22-year history of the agency.

About 450 people were apprehended as several law enforcement agencies descended on the Hyundai Metaplant site in Ellabell, about 25 miles west of Savannah, officials said, in the latest example of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration at workplaces across the country.
 
The raid halted construction of a factory being built to produce batteries for electric vehicles, the Associated Press reported. The facility has been touted by Georgia’s governor as the largest economic development site in the state’s history, the AP added.

The same day, hundreds of miles away in upstate New York, dozens of workers at a family-owned plant that makes nutrition bars were also apprehended during an ICE raid, officials said, drawing the ire of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

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.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/hundreds-of-undocumented-immigrants-apprehended-in-massive-ice-raid-at-hyundai-plant-in-georgia/ar-AA1LWoqR?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=HCTS&cvid=68bac0aa71414ceb9294b0f18626e8fd&ei=89

[Sighlass]

Now Hyundai is Korean owned... and employing Korean illegals. Of course, through side outside employment that claim not to be part of... Bull Crapola ... Some didn't get caught (hid in air vents)...

Just how many of these "USA Plants" are just ways to filter illegals of their choice into America ?

[Timber Rattler]

A Hyundai spokesperson told CNN he does not believe anyone arrested was a direct employee of Hyundai Motor Company.

“Hyundai is committed to full compliance with all laws and regulations in every market where we operate. This includes employment verification requirements and immigration laws,” the company said in a statement Friday night.

Hyundai Motor North America Chief Manufacturing Officer Chris Susock will now manage the megasite and an investigation will be conducted to verify that suppliers and subcontractors comply with laws, according to the company.

Complete BS!  Hyundai knew what it was doing.  Like all the rest, it was using shady "cut-out" third party contractors to supply the illegal labor to keep costs low, avoid taxes, FICA, and required benefits, and ensure plausible deniability.  The U.S. is eat up with this practice.

[Kamaji]

South Korea mounts swift response to deal with raid on US Hyundai plant

South Korea is mounting an "all-out" response, as the country reels over the arrest of more than 300 of its citizens in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in the US.

Seoul has dispatched diplomats to the site in Georgia, while LG Energy Solution, which operates the plant with Hyundai, said it was suspending most business trips to the US.

*  *  *

Many of the LG employees arrested were on business trips with various visas or under a visa waiver programme, officials say.

South Korea's Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun said he felt a "great sense of responsibility for the arrest of our citizens" as he presided over an emergency meeting about the issue on Saturday.

He said the government had set up a team to respond to the arrests and that he may travel to Washington if needed.

*  *  *

[Kamaji]

Complete BS!  Hyundai knew what it was doing.  Like all the rest, it was using shady "cut-out" third party contractors to supply the illegal labor to keep costs low, avoid taxes, FICA, and required benefits, and ensure plausible deniability.  The U.S. is eat up with this practice.

Not so.  The U.S. has an income tax treaty with Korea which, in general terms. allows Korean residents to perform services in the U.S. for their Korean employer for a limited period of time and be exempt from U.S. income tax - and to the extent that the individual exceeds either the 183 day limit (per calendar year) or the dollar limitation ($3k in the treaty, but may have been increased by a subsequent protocol).

The U.S. and Korea also have a totalization agreement with the U.S. that, in general, exempts from FICA and FUTA Korean employees who are sent to the U.S. by their Korean employer for a period of up to five years.

This is a case of (a) U.S. immigration rules that are archaic and dysfunctional, and (b) an employer who prefers efficiency over spending the inordinate amounts of time and money to get an L-1 visa program up and running.

This is not about Hyundai sneaking in cheap uneducated laborers to undercut U.S. tradesmen.

[Sighlass]

At 16.23 average rate pay the average workweek would bring over 640 dollars.... (no overtime)... with a 3000 dollar limit... that would be about 4.5 weeks of work (little over a month, 31.5 days)....

So you are saying they rotate in "legals" every month with training time not factored in.

Drop the pay rate to illegal under the table rate of $8.00 an hour and you perhaps get 2 months of cheap labor.

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Hyundai-Plant-Salary-in-Cartersville,GA

Sorry ... not buying it....

[Kamaji]

At 16.23 average rate pay the average workweek would bring over 640 dollars.... (no overtime)... with a 3000 dollar limit... that would be about 4.5 weeks of work (little over a month, 31.5 days)....

So you are saying they rotate in "legals" every month with training time not factored in.

Drop the pay rate to illegal under the table rate of $8.00 an hour and you perhaps get 2 months of cheap labor.

https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Hyundai-Plant-Salary-in-Cartersville,GA

Sorry ... not buying it....

The income tax, to the extent the $3k limit is exceeded, is the obligation of the individual.  The FICA and FUTA is not due because of the totalization agreement, so no, the U.S. is not losing out on tax revenues it would otherwise have been entitled to.

Since you enjoy setting up strawmen, I wouldn't expect you to get it.  I've done enough cross-border tax advisory to have seen this quite often.  It's a noxious combination of utterly dysfunctional U.S. immigration policy and companies that are more interested in getting their business projects moving than they are in dealing with antiquated 18th century U.S. immigration policies.

[Hoodat]

Now Hyundai is Korean owned... and employing Korean illegals.

I seriously doubt that the illegals arrested at this site were Korean.

[Kamaji]

I seriously doubt that the illegals arrested at this site were Korean.

A large number of them were.

[Sighlass]

So people hid in air vents to avoid ICE because they were perfectly legal.

Sounds legit.

[Kamaji]

So people hid in air vents to avoid ICE because they were perfectly legal.

Sounds legit.

Where did you get that from?

[Wingnut]

Where did you get that from?

So people hid in air vents to avoid ICE because they were perfectly legal.

Sounds legit.

Come to to Savana Hyundai plant they said. It will be fun they said.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

So when does the employer get fined as penalty for employing illegals?

Likely management will face crimi al charges as well for breaking federal laws.

[DCPatriot]

So when does the employer get fined as penalty for employing illegals?

Likely management will face crimi al charges as well for breaking federal laws.

They don't ...get fined.

Part of the incentive package to get Hyundai to build the factory was a promise to look the other way when hiring illegal immigrants.

[dfwgator]

Come to to Savana Hyundai plant they said. It will be fun they said.

[mountaineer]

Organized labor in GA defending illegal aliens taking the jobs of American citizens:

https://twitter.com/AFLCIOGeorgia/status/1963962513965318220

[rangerrebew]

What to Know About the Hyundai Workers Arrested in the ICE Raid: THEY WERE GUILTY!

by Antonio Graceffo Sep. 7, 2025 7:00 am
 

A major U.S. immigration raid took place at Hyundai’s $7.6 billion EV manufacturing site in Georgia, detaining 475 workers, over 300 of them South Korean nationals. This marks the largest single-site enforcement operation in Homeland Security Investigations’ history.

The raid followed a months-long probe into illegal hiring at Hyundai’s EV plant and the adjacent Hyundai–LG battery facility. While many South Koreans at the site held valid H-1B visas, Homeland Security Investigations’ Georgia chief, Steven Schrank, said the 475 people arrested were those “illegally present in the United States, or in violation of their presence in the United States, working unlawfully.”

Authorities reported that the group included individuals who had crossed the border illegally, overstayed visas, or violated visa waiver rules, with many using fraudulent documents to obtain jobs.

Hyundai is trying to distance itself from guilt. Based on Hyundai’s statement, “none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company,” suggesting they were contractors or subcontractors working on the battery plant construction.

https://www.alipac.us/f12/what-know-about-hyundai-workers-arrested-ice-raid-they-were-guilty-433050/

[rangerrebew]

Was a congressional democrat assigned to each one?

[Sighlass]

Where did you get that from?

@Kamaji

As the word of the raid spread, a worker hid in an air duct to evade the federal agents. "Everyone came out running and told us immigration has arrived. We hid ourselves in an air duct and it was really hot," he said, also on condition of anonymity.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/like-a-war-zone-us-agents-storm-hyundai-plant-site-georgia-many-south-koreans-arrested-illegal-migrants-donald-trump-9230697

[Wingnut]

 Georgia AFL-CIO President Yvonne Brooks.  What is it with these fat ass black liberal socialist women?  Eat a damn salad and start advocating for American Union workers, not a bunch of slant-eyed, kimchi eating Korean illegals.

[Sighlass]

Georgia AFL-CIO President Yvonne Brooks.  What is it with these fat ass black liberal socialist women?  Eat a damn salad and start advocating for American Union workers, not a bunch of slant-eyed, kimchi eating Korean illegals.

But she is the poster child for the union BLM representation ...

https://www.afscme.org/blog/for-black-history-month-afl-cio-salutes-these-current-and-former-afscme-members