Hyundai Responds To Massive ICE Raid On Georgia EV Metaplant

• Hyundai’s Georgia Metaplant, where it makes the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 electric vehicles, was raided today by law enforcement officers, including the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
• About 475 people were detained, most of them South Korean nationals, according to news reports.
• Hyundai said the detainments will not impact car production at the factory.

Hyundai’s Savannah, Georgia Metaplant is the South Korean automaker’s newest and arguably most important factory ever, making the Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 9 electric SUVs on American soil. Today, however, it was the site of the largest-ever Homeland Security enforcement operation at a single location.

Earlier today, the 16 million square-foot factory was raided by law enforcement officers, including those from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who arrested about 475 people. Most were South Korean nationals who were not in the country legally, according to multiple news reports.

In a statement to InsideEVs, Hyundai Motor America officials confirmed that none of the workers detained were employed by the Korean automaker. Instead, they seem to have been working for LG Energy Solution, which co-owns the plant with Hyundai and operates its nearby battery facility.

“We are closely monitoring the situation while working to understand the specific circumstances,” Hyundai officials said. “Based on our current understanding, none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company.” 

The automaker added: “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. We expect the same commitment from all our partners, suppliers, contractors, and subcontractors.”

A Hyundai spokesperson said that vehicle assembly at the plant will not be affected by today’s arrests.

Hyundai officials said the company is “reviewing our processes to ensure that all parties working on our projects maintain the same high standards of legal compliance that we demand of ourselves. This includes thorough vetting of employment practices by contractors and subcontractors.” It was not immediately clear why the EV and battery manufatcuring site was targeted by the Trump administration.

Today’s raid comes as the Trump administration continues to dramatically step up immigration-related detentions, arrests and deportations across the country. While Trump campaigned on a promise to deport criminals and “the worst of the worst,” many such raids have implicated scores of people who have not been accused of crimes. According to a New York Times report, an attorney for at least two detained suspects today in Georgia said they were in the United States on a visa waiver program that allows stays of 90 days or less for business.

The Times report indicated that Korean companies often bring their own technicians on-site to help set up new operations, as they have the training to do such work. But one immigration lawyer said U.S. visa laws are not properly set up to sponsor trained workers to run those factories.

However, ICE officials said in a statement that the raid was part of “an active, ongoing criminal investigation.”

“The individuals arrested during the operation were found to be working illegally, in violation of the terms of their visas and/or statuses,” ICE officials said. “People on short-term or recreational visas are not authorized to work in the U.S. A green card holder from Mexico was arrested after being determined to be removable from the U.S. based on multiple criminal convictions.” 

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Source: Patrick George

Hyundai’s Metaplant is perhaps the automaker’s most important effort to bolster manufacturing in the U.S., its largest and most important market. It is also the largest economic development project in Georgia’s history. The scale of the project, and its planned 14,000 manufacturing jobs, have been hailed as a win by Democrats and Republicans alike. Hyundai also announced this year that the plant can make hybrid cars, amid potential concerns about electric demand following the end of the federal EV tax credits later this month.    

“The safety and well-being of everyone working at our sites, whether directly employed by us or working for our suppliers, is a top priority,” Hyundai officials said. “We take our responsibility as a corporate citizen seriously, and incidents like this remind us of the importance of robust oversight throughout our entire supply chain and contractor network.”

Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com