Hyundai Immigration Raid, Massive immigration raid at Hyundai megaplant in Georgia leads to 475 arrests
Hyundai Immigration Raid,
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| Hyundai Metaplant electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Ellabell, Georgia |
Hundreds of federal officers descended on a small southeast Georgia community and raided the Hyundai Metaplant – arresting 475 people in the largest sweep yet in the current Trump administration’s immigration crackdown at US worksites.
The majority of those arrested Thursday at the enormous site in Ellabell – about 25 miles west of Savannah, Georgia – are Korean nationals, said Steven Schrank, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge. Schrank said he did not have a breakdown of the arrestees’ nationalities.
All 475 people taken into custody were suspected of living and working illegally in the US, Schrank said. Some entered into the US illegally; some had visa waivers and were prohibited from working; and some had overstayed their visas, he said.
During the raid, several people tried to flee – including some who “ran into a sewage pond located on the premises,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia said in a news release.
“Agents used a boat to fish them out of the water. One of the individuals swam under the boat and tried to flip it over to no avail. These people were captured and identified as illegal workers,” the release states.
Schrank noted that some of the workers may have been contractors or subcontractors.
“We continue to work on the investigation of who exactly worked for what companies,” he said.
