South Korean employee tells BBC about panic and confusion during Hyundai raid

South Korean worker, who witnessed a large -scale immigration operation at a car factory in Georgia, told the BBC about panic and confusion when federal agents went down to the court and arrested hundreds.

The man who asked to remain unknown was at a plant that jointly owned Hyundai and LG Energy Solution when 475 people were arrested by immigration and execution agents, including 300 South Korean citizens, some were allocated to the chains.

He said he first became aware of the morning raid on Thursday when he and his colleagues received a stream of telephone calls from the company’s bosses. “A few telephone lines are ringing and the message was to close the operations,” he said.

As the news spread about the raid, the largest of its kind since President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the man said the panicked family members tried to contact the workers.

“They were detained and they left all their mobile phones in the office. They called, but we couldn’t answer because (office) was blocked,” he said.

According to US officials, some workers tried to escape, including several who jumped into the nearby sewer pond. They were divided into groups based on nationality and visa status before processing and booting on several coaches.

About 400 state and federal agents gathered outside the wide factory complex of $ 7.6 billion, which is approximately half an hour from the city of Savanna before entering the site on Thursday at about 10:30.

The 3000 acres complex opened last year, and workers collect electric cars there. Immigration officials conducted an investigation into allegedly illegal employment practice at a batteries of electric vehicles built in the connection.

The operation ultimately became the largest operation on immigration issues in one site in the history of internal security, officials said, adding that hundreds of people who were not allowed to work in the United States.

The BBC Verify conducted a review of the staff located on social media and is obviously removed inside the battery plant.

One of the videos shows that men lined up in the room as a man in masks, wearing a vest with HSI initials – an investigation into the internal security – and holding a radio, says to them: “We are the security of the Motherland, we have a search warrant.

The BBC Verify met with a worker who has a legally right to work in the US, in Savana, the nearest city to the massive car factory.

The man said he was “shocked but not surprised” by an immigration operation. He said that the vast majority of detained workers were mechanics who set the production lines on the spot and were occupied by the contractor.

He also stated that the minority of the arrested was sent from the head office in Seoul and conducted a training that the BBC could not confirm.

The man said he believed that almost all employees had some legal right to be in the US, but ended with the wrong type of visas or their right to work ended.

BBC contacted Hyundai and LG Energy Solution for comments.

In a joint statement published after the raid, Hyundai and LG Energy Solution stated that they “fully cooperate with the relevant bodies concerning our construction site. To help our work, we stopped construction.”

Hyundai also stated that “based on our current sense, none of the detainees directly works as Hyundai Motor Company.”

He added that he “strives to fulfill all the laws and rules in each market where we work.”

The BBC Verify also contacted the US Department of Security (DHS) for comment and more about why the employees were detained and what they did at the plant.

On Friday, the day after the raid, the ICE Agent, Stephen Shrank, said all 475 detainees were “illegally present in the United States”.

He said they were workers who “entered various means in the US, some illegally crossed the border, some who entered the visa refusal and banned work, some of the visas and overestimated visas.”

The raid, dubbed the “low voltage” official, aimed at the electrical plant, which was built at the same place as the existing Hyundai car factory.

Ice released the raid footage, showing that federal agents arrived in armored vehicles and produce workers outside the plant, some showed that they were chaired before loading on coaches.

Other images show that two people are obviously trying to escape, and another person who was taken out of the water by agents talking to him by -Spanish.

The worker we talked to, said he sympathized with those who were detained, but he said that Trump administration was not a surprise. “Their slogan is America, and if you work in America legally, you will not have a problem,” he said.

The man said that time and administrative obstacles involved in receiving US visas urged foreign companies to cut corners to finish projects in time, but now it may be necessary to reconsider.

“I mean, after that, many companies happened to think again about investing in the US, because creating a new project may take much more time than before,” he said, adding that many of those who were detained were specialists and finding local workers to replace them.

When the BBC visited the site last weekend, there were some visible signs of the raid on Thursday, although the two security teams asked us to move on when we were shot from the road.

The Elobele Electric Factory, Georgia, is a huge complex that dominates the landscape and became the main source of employment because the project was announced in 2022.

Georgian Republican Governor Brian Kemp has accepted a 7.6 billion dollar complex, calling it the greatest project of economic development in the history of the state.

The influence of the enterprise was reflected in the revival of the Korean American Association of the Great Savannah. “This is a growing community,” said Cho Roof, President of the Association.

Ms Daha, who became a US citizen in the 1980s and also known by its American name Ruby Gold, said Ice’s arrests had left the people shocked.

She hopes that the raid on her doorstep has no broad effect on US-car’s relations. “It is very shocking to me and the image of a global, famous company,” she said.

Additional reporting by Aisha Sembhi and Wongby Lee