Key Takeaways:
- Record-Breaking Operation: Homeland Security Investigations detained 475 people in Georgia, marking the largest single-site enforcement action in the agency’s history.
- Accountability for Employers: Evidence points to contractors and subcontractors hiring illegal workers at Hyundai’s $7.6 billion EV plant, undercutting American labor.
- Protecting U.S. Workers: Immigration enforcement ensures foreign investment strengthens—not exploits—the American economy, keeping jobs and wages fair for citizens.
Federal immigration agents carried out the largest single-site enforcement operation in Homeland Security Investigations’ 20-year history this week, detaining 475 people—most of them South Korean nationals—at Hyundai’s massive EV plant near Savannah, Georgia.
“This has been a multimonth criminal investigation where we have developed evidence and conducted interviews, gathered documents and presented that evidence to the court in order to obtain a judicial search warrant,” said Steven Schrank, HSI’s Georgia agent in charge.
The plant, touted by Gov. Brian Kemp as the state’s largest economic development project, represents a $7.6 billion investment and the promise of 8,500 American jobs. But Thursday’s raid revealed a glaring problem: contractors and subcontractors appear to have turned to illegal labor, undermining both U.S. workers and the rule of law.
Hyundai insists none of its direct employees were detained, and the automaker says it has “zero tolerance” for suppliers who break U.S. law. That’s the right response—but it should have been the policy in practice, not just in press releases. American taxpayers and Georgia communities deserve better than corners cut and jobs outsourced illegally.
The Trump administration has made clear that immigration enforcement is not about “fear tactics,” as Democrats claim, but about fairness, sovereignty, and the dignity of legal labor. Businesses thrive in a free market only when the rules apply evenly. By enforcing immigration law, the U.S. protects its workers, safeguards its communities, and ensures that foreign investment strengthens—not weakens—the American economy.