Federal and state law enforcement detained 475 people for immigration-related offenses at a $7.6 billion electric vehicle battery factory near Savannah, Georgia, on Thursday, September 4, in what immigration officials are calling the “largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations.” The operation was a coup for President Donald Trump’s mass deportation goals, but it could come at the expense of another Trump priority: boosting domestic manufacturing.
During a press conference, Steven Schrank, the special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia and Alabama, said the operation was part of a multimonth criminal investigation into the factory’s alleged unlawful employment practices. A judicial search warrant was filed on September 2, naming four people to be searched in connection with the criminal investigation. But immigration authorities arrived in force, ready to question and detain hundreds of workers. Of the 475 detained for offenses ranging from crossing the border illegally to overstaying their visa, over 300 were South Korean nationals. The arrests were meant to send a message that “those who exploit our workforce, undermine our economy, and violate federal laws will be held accountable.” No criminal charges have yet been filed.
Video provided by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and released by WJCL News, a local ABC News affiliate, shows federal and state officers descending on the site to line up, frisk, and shackle hundreds of workers. Each individual, Schrank said, was questioned on their status, and their documents and backgrounds were reviewed before being transported to a detention facility.
Although Schrank claims all documents were reviewed, one South Korean official told The Wall Street Journal that many of the South Korean nationals were working as instructors in Georgia and had the appropriate visas, like the B-1 Temporary Business Visitor visa, which allows someone to enter the U.S. for an eligible business purpose for between one and six months, and up to one year with an extension. Family members of detained workers interviewed by CNN following the raid said valid work permits did not stop agents from making arrests. Detained Korean nationals have since been released and are allowed to leave the country voluntarily, rather than through deportation, which would have triggered a multiyear entry ban into the United States.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump called on foreign companies to follow U.S. immigration law and encouraged them to “LEGALLY bring your very smart people” to train American workers. But while Trump is confident the immigration raid won’t harm an otherwise strong allyship, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun called the incident “a very serious matter.”
South Korea’s response could have significant implications for Trump’s stated goal of restoring domestic manufacturing. In July, South Korea announced that it would invest $350 billion in U.S. projects (which will be selected by the Trump administration) and purchase $100 billion worth of American energy in exchange for a reduced tariff rate (15 percent instead of 25 percent). It wouldn’t be inconceivable if South Korea started to reconsider this arrangement in light of Thursday’s events. In fact, it appears that it already has. During a legislative hearing on Monday, Korean politicians questioned how “companies investing in the U.S. [can] continue to invest properly in the future,” reports the Associated Press. Others even called for retaliatory investigations on Americans working in South Korea.
Meanwhile, LG Energy Solutions—which saw 47 of its employees detained last Thursday—is pausing all business trips to the U.S. and directing other employees on assignment in the U.S. to return immediately. Construction at the Georgia facility—which was part of the state’s largest-ever economic development project and expected to employ 8,500 people—has been halted. Given South Korea’s rich history of investing in the U.S., and a recent jobs report showing America’s manufacturing shrinking, Trump can’t afford for South Korea to pull back from U.S. investments.
Trump campaigned on a promise to help American workers through mass deportations of criminal aliens and rebuilding the U.S. manufacturing industry. His immigration policies have failed to capture violent criminals. Now they’re jeopardizing jobs for Americans, too.
