Overview

• U.S. authorities detained 475 people at the HL-GA Battery Co. construction site in Georgia, with over 300 believed to be Korean nationals and most now held at the Folkston ICE Processing Center.
• The operation drew personnel from multiple federal agencies and used helicopters and roadblocks, and images show workers restrained with cable ties and leg shackles during processing.
• ICE officials say the focus was unauthorized on-site work by visitors who entered on B1 business visas or the ESTA program rather than on employment-authorized visas.
• Construction at the $4.3 billion Hyundai–LG battery plant, designed for roughly 30 GWh of annual capacity, has been fully suspended following the crackdown.
• South Korea has opened diplomatic channels, including a call between First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and U.S. Under Secretary Allison Hooker, as Foreign Minister Cho Hyun prepares a Washington visit and rights concerns mount over Folkston’s past violations and a 2024 detainee death.