This week saw a major enforcement action, this time in Georgia, in the Trump administration's ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration. On Thursday, Federal agents from several agencies conducted a raid at a Georgia electric car battery factory owned by Korean manufacturer Hyundai. Approximately 450 illegal aliens are in federal custody. The raid follows several months of investigation.
Around 450 illegal migrants were arrested Thursday in a major immigration enforcement raid at a Hyundai electric car battery factory in Georgia, Atlanta’s Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced.
Several other agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations, took part in the raid at the Hyundai–LG Energy Solution battery plant construction site in Ellabell, which is located about 20 miles outside Savannah.
The raid is considered the largest such action at a U.S. manufacturing site in years and follows major raids at other workplaces over the last few months under the Trump administration.
The national origins of the 450 illegals have not been released; there is apparently a lot of information that isn't being released yet due to the ongoing investigation. The facility where the raid took place is under construction, with an estimated price tag of between $4.3 billion and $ 7.6 billion, and production is expected to begin by the end of the year. The facility is being built to supply electric vehicle batteries to a nearby Hyundai electric vehicle factory near the city of Savannah.
Construction on the site has, for the time being, ceased.
The South Korean government is apparently "concerned."
The South Korean foreign ministry expressed "concern and regret" over the raid and sent a counselor and embassy officials to the location.
"Our companies’ economic activities and our people’s rights should not be infringed unfairly in the US legal enforcement process," Lee Jae-woong, a spokesperson for South Korea’s foreign ministry, said on Friday, according to the Financial Times.
Someone may want to inform the South Korean foreign minister that, when doing business in the United States, you are required to abide by U.S. laws, meaning you cannot hire undocumented immigrants. Nobody's rights are being infringed unfairly in this operation, from what we know of it. This raid was conducted after a lengthy investigation to enforce United States immigration law and federal and state employment laws. The South Korean foreign ministry can express all the concern and regret it likes, but these federal agencies can and should continue to enforce the law.
A Hyundai spokesman has stated the company is cooperating with all enforcement efforts.
In a statement to NBC News, Hyundai spokesperson Michael Stewart confirmed the presence of law enforcement at the LG Energy Solution and Hyundai battery joint venture construction site in Bryan County, where Ellabell is located.
“We are cooperating with law enforcement and are committed to abiding by all labor and immigration regulations,” Stewart said.
That's as it should be.
Watch: ICE Gets Last Laugh As Guy Who Smirkingly Towed Away Their Vehicle Is Perp-Walked to Jail
The Justice Department and Immigration & Customs Enforcement gave details in a press conference following the raid:
This is a developing story. Stay tuned.
Editor’s Note: We voted for mass deportations, not mass amnesty. Help us continue to fight back against those trying to go against the will of the American people.
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