US Department of Homeland Security arrests 475 people in Ellabell, Georgia raid

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Friday, September 5, 2025

Yesterday, following a months-long investigation by US Homeland Security Investigations, agents completed a search warrant at the LG Energy Solutions and Hyundai EV manufacturing plant that is under construction in Ellabell, Georgia. Agents arrested 475 people suspected of illegally crossing the US border, overstaying legal visas, or misusing visas that prohibited working in the United States. Upon arrest, those detained were moved to the D. Ray James Correctional Facility in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending further action.

“This was the largest single site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security investigations,” Steven Schrank, a special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta said of the operation. Those arrested included employees and executives of both LG and Hyundai as well as several contractors and subcontractors. Some of those arrested attempted to flee, including one who ran into a nearby sewage pond, but were apprehended by agents, using a boat to retrieve the individual in the pond.

Approximately 300 of the 475 arrested were South Korean nationals. The South Korean embassy and consular officials were en route to Georgia at the time of writing on September 5, 2025. “The economic activities of our investment companies and the rights and interests of our citizens must not be unjustly violated during U.S. law enforcement proceedings,” Lee Jaewoong, a spokesman for South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said of those detained.