Presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik said Sunday that South Korea and the US had finalised negotiations on the release of the workers whom US immigration authorities had detained on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n
He said South Korea plans to send a charter plane to bring the workers home as soon as the remaining administrative steps are completed.<\/p>\n
US immigration authorities said on Friday that they had detained 475 people, most of them South Korean nationals, when hundreds of federal agents raided Hyundai\u2019s sprawling manufacturing site in Georgia, where the Korean automaker makes electric vehicles.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson said the immigration component of the raid came as part of a larger, months-long investigation into labour practices at the site.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
![\"Manufacturing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25249755383898-1757247136.jpg\")
This screengrab shows manufacturing plant employees waiting to have their legs shackled at the Hyundai Motor Group\u2019s Georgia factory [Handout\/Corey Bullard\/ICE via AP]Trump targets immigrant workforce<\/p>\n
Since US President Donald 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The president has said he wants to deport \u201cthe worst of the worst\u201d criminals. But ICE figures show a rise in the detainment of noncriminals.<\/p>\n
This latest raid highlights the disruptive effect Trump\u2019s anti-immigration crackdown is having on his efforts to attract foreign investment. The Hyundai-LG complex is part of the biggest foreign investment in the state of Georgia.<\/p>\n
Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea\u2019s biggest automaker, began manufacturing electric vehicles a year ago at the $7.6bn plant, which employs about 1,200 people. The company has partnered with LG Energy Solution to build an adjacent battery plant, slated to open next year.<\/p>\n
Agents focused their operation on the plant that is still under construction.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A \u2018serious risk to the country\u2019<\/p>\n