South Korean workers detained in Georgia Hyundai plant raid file claims against federal agencies
More than 300 South Korean workers detained during a massive immigration raid at a Georgia battery plant last year have begun the process of seeking damages from the U.S. government.
Attorneys for the workers have started filing administrative claims with nine federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, the FBI and the departments of Justice and Labor, according to an exclusive CNN report.
The filings are required before the workers can pursue a federal lawsuit. Their attorney plans to file claims for all the workers by the end of the year, CNN reported.
The workers allege that they were arrested and detained unlawfully during the Sept. 4, 2025, raid at the Hyundai-LG electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, west of Savannah. They said they were not given explanations or interpreters, were placed in shackles and were forced to sign documents they could not understand.
The claims seek damages for lost work, confiscated belongings and psychological harm. The workers have not disclosed how much money they are seeking.
Federal authorities detained 475 people during the raid, most of them South Korean nationals. At the time, authorities described it as the largest single-site enforcement operation in Homeland Security Investigations history.
DHS said ICE executed a court-authorized search warrant as part of an investigation into alleged unlawful employment practices and other federal crimes. Officials said those detained were suspected of living or working in the United States illegally.
Some workers have said they held valid business visas and were never told why they were arrested. CNN reported that the search warrant identified four targets, none of whom were among the South Korean workers who were detained.
More than 300 South Korean nationals spent about a week in a Georgia detention center before the South Korean government negotiated their release. They then boarded a charter flight home.
Some of those workers have since returned to the United States to work at battery plants, in some cases using the same type of business visa they held during the raid. Some told CNN they remain concerned that immigration agents could detain them again.
