According to BBC, Kang Hoon-sik, a senior South Korean official, stated that efforts are underway to enhance the visa system to prevent similar incidents in the future. Video footage released by ICE officials showed Asian workers shackled outside a building, some wearing yellow vests labeled with names like "Hyundai" and "LG CNS." ICE clarified that individuals on short-term or recreational visas are not authorized to work in the US and emphasized that the raid was essential to protect American jobs. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Steven Schrank remarked, "This operation sends a clear message that those who exploit the system and undermine our workforce will be held accountable."
The incident has prompted concern in Seoul, given the ongoing sensitive trade talks between the two nations. South Korea, a close ally of the US, has committed billions in American manufacturing investment, partly to counteract tariffs. The timing of the raid has been particularly troubling, as President Trump has been advocating for major foreign investments while simultaneously tightening visa allocations for foreign companies.
LG Energy Solution, which jointly operates the plant with Hyundai, reported that many of its employees arrested were on business trips under various visas or a visa waiver program. In response, the company has suspended most business trips to the US and instructed its employees on assignment there to return home immediately.
The raid has been widely described as a "shock" in South Korean media, with the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper warning of a "chilling effect" on South Korean business activities in the United States. The Georgia factory, noted by the state's Republican governor as the most significant economic development project in Georgia's history, employs 1,200 people and produces new electric vehicles.
Currently, the arrested workers are held at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia. LG Energy Solution reported that 47 of its employees, along with approximately 250 contractor workers at the joint venture factory, were detained.