Published On 7 Sep 2025
United States President Donald Trump has warned foreign companies against violating immigration law following the detention of hundreds of South Korean workers at the construction site of a Hyundai plant in the US state of Georgia.
In a post on social media on Sunday, Trump urged companies investing in the US to “please respect” the law.
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“Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build World Class products, and we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
“What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers. Together, we will all work hard to make our Nation not only productive, but closer in unity than ever before.”
Trump’s comments came hours after South Korea said it reached an agreement for the release of about 300 South Korean workers detained on Thursday at the site of the electric-vehicle battery joint venture between Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution in Bryan County, Georgia.
Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said South Korea and the US had finalised negotiations on the release of the workers, and that Seoul would send a charter plane to bring them home as soon as outstanding administrative steps were completed.
US immigration authorities said on Friday that they had detained 475 people in the raid on the Hyundai site, which also includes a manufacturing plant that began producing EVs last year.
A spokesperson said the immigration component of the raid came as part of a larger, months-long investigation into labour practices at the site.
Video released by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Saturday showed a caravan of vehicles driving up to the site and then federal agents directing workers to line up outside.
Some detainees were ordered to put their hands up against a bus as they were frisked and then shackled around their hands, ankles and waists.
Trump targets immigrant workforce
Since Trump returned to power in January, ICE has been bolstered by record funding and new latitude to conduct raids as part of a crackdown on immigrants and refugees.
The Pew Research Center, citing preliminary Census Bureau data, said the US labour force lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January through July.
The president has said he wants to deport “the worst of the worst” criminals. But ICE figures show a rise in the detainment of non-criminals.
This latest raid highlights the disruptive effect Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown is having on his efforts to attract foreign investment.
Georgia officials have touted the Hyundai manufacturing plant and the Hyundai-LG complex as the biggest economic development project in the state’s history.
Hyundai, South Korea’s biggest automaker, employs about 1,200 people at its $7.6bn manufacturing plant. Its joint venture with LG is slated to open next year.
Agents focused their operation on the plant that is still under construction.
Most of the people detained were taken to an immigration detention centre in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida state line.
None has been charged with any crimes yet, Steven Schrank, the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Security Investigations, said during a news conference on Friday, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
A ‘serious risk to the country’
South Korea, a close ally of the US, has expressed “concern and regret” over the raid targeting its citizens and sent diplomats to the site.
South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Hyun on Saturday said President Lee Jae-myung had instructed officials to swiftly resolve the matter, stressing that the rights and interests of South Korean nationals and the business operations of South Korean companies investing in the US “must not be infringed upon”, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
South Korea’s opposition People Power Party (PPP) reacted angrily to the detentions, warning they “could pose a serious risk” to the country.
Senior PPP spokesperson Park Sung-hoon blamed Lee for the incident, saying his “pragmatic diplomacy” towards the US had “failed to ensure both the safety of citizens and the competitiveness” of South Korean businesses.
Park said Lee’s government even promised at least $50bn of investments during his recent meeting with Trump, a gesture that resulted only in a “crackdown” against South Korean citizens.
