Federal agents on Sept. 4 arrested hundreds of people at a sprawling battery plant construction site in Georgia in one of the
Trump administration’s largest
The
federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced agents from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency, as well as Georgia State Patrol took part in the operation at Hyundai’s battery plant in Bryan County, southwest of Savannah. Agents apprehended about 450 people suspected of being in the country illegally, ATF said in an X post.
DHS said in an email that Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicial search warrant for an ongoing criminal investigation for alleged unlawful employment practices and other federal crimes.
The agency didn't clarify how many agents took part in the operation, nor the charges that those detained face.
"We are making many arrests of undocumented individuals," Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta, said at a
news conference streamed by local news stations. "We have encountered many lawful employees working here, United States citizens and lawful permanent residents, and they are of course being released."
Schrank said there was no injuries or "uses of force" in the operation. He said more details on the raid will be released later.
The facility is the HL-GA Battery Company, a battery plant jointly created by LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Group. It is under construction next to the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America at the site that spans nearly 3,000 acres.
Hyundai’s new $7.6 billion plant, in a rural area near Savannah, has promised to
transform the local economy and workforce. The facility is estimated to create around 8,500 jobs by 2030.
Hyundai spokesperson Bianca Johnson said in an email there was no impact to the metaplant or its production.
The law enforcement action took place at the HL-GA battery plant's construction site, she said. "We are cooperating with law enforcement and are committed to abiding by all labor and immigration regulations."
Mary Beth Kennedy, a spokesperson for the HL-GA Battery Company, said in a statement that the company was “cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities regarding activity at our construction site.”
“To assist their work, we have paused construction,” Kennedy said. “We do not have further details at this time."
The
Savannah Morning News, part of the USA TODAY Network, was told to exit the facility as state troopers blocked A helicopter hovered over the plant site amid the raid, while state patrol cars and unidentified black vehicles entered the site. Images posted by ATF showed men and women in zip ties being escorted off the site.
Georgia State Patrol Capt. Crystal Zion said the department assisted federal officials with “the service of a criminal search warrant in an operation at the Hyundai Metaplant.” Zion shared no additional information and directed inquiries to Homeland Security Investigations.
The Georgia raid is one of the largest during President
Donald Trump’s second term, as he promises a sweeping immigration crackdown across the country using multiple federal agencies and even assistance from local and state law enforcement. Raids have taken place across the country on farms and construction sites, as well as restaurants and car washes.
During Trump’s first term, in August 2019,
agents arrested 680 people at seven Mississippi chicken processing plants, in what officials at the time called the largest single-state immigration crackdown in a decade.
Contributing: Savannah Morning News
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hundreds arrested in immigration raid at Georgia Hyundai plant site
