The operation targeted one of Georgia’s largest and most important factories.
About 475 people were arrested during an immigration operation at a South Korean automobile factory, Hyundai, Georgia, United States (USA) on Thursday, an internal security guard said.
The special agent responsible for internal security investigations, Steven Schrank, said at a press conference that Most of the detained people were from South Korea.
“This operation reinforces our commitment to jobs for Georgians and Americans,” said the agent.
South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Jaewoong described the number of South Koreans detained as “large”, although it did not provide an exact number.
South Korea also expressed “concern and weighing” with the US immigration operation at the factory with about 1,200 workers.
The Department of Internal Security reported in a statement that the agents made a search warrant “as part of a ongoing criminal investigation on allegations of illegal employment practices and other serious federal crimes.”
Thursday’s operation targets one of Georgia’s largest and most important factories, announced by the governor and other authorities as the largest economic development project in state history.
The factory, which occupies 12,000 square meters, was praised by the governor of Georgia, Brian P. Kemp, as the largest project of economic development in state history.
The Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s largest car manufacturer, began manufacturing electric vehicles for a year in the factory of $ 7.6 billion (about 6,800 million euros).
President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out comprehensive operations of US immigration and customs control service as part of a mass deportation agenda.
Immigration agents performed Rusas (unexpected police operation) to Thursdays, construction sites, restaurants and mechanical workshops.
The Pew Research Center, citing preliminary data from the Census Bureau, says the US workforce has lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January to July.
The numbers include people in the country illegally, as well as legal residents.
