South Korea announced the deal on Sunday. The raid is part of a criminal investigation targeting a major economic project of a key US ally.
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The 475 detained South Korean workers in a massive immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia are to be released and flown home.
US immigration authorities on Thursday had raided the site, conducting a search that shut down construction on a factory being built to produce EV batteries. The factory is Georgia’s largest and most high-profile manufacturing site, called by the governor as the most significant economic development project in the state’s history.
South Korea's government announced the deal on Sunday, following negotiations with the US. Federal agents called the operation the largest single-site raid in their history. Seoul, on the other hand, had expressed 'concern and regret' and sent diplomats to the site.
US authorities said the operation was part of a long-term criminal investigation into illegal hiring practices. The raid is seen as a part of President Donald Trump's broader crackdown on immigration, but is notable for targeting a major project involving a key US ally.
Hyundai Motor Group began manufacturing EVs a year ago at the $7.6 billion plant, which employs about 1,200 people.
Video posted to social media Thursday showed workers in yellow safety vests lined up as a man wearing a face mask and a tactical vest with the letters HSI, which stands for Homeland Security Investigations, tells them: “We’re Homeland Security. We have a search warrant for the whole site.”
“We need construction to cease immediately,” the man says. “We need all work to end on the site right now.”
President Donald Trump’s administration has undertaken sweeping ICE operations as part of a mass deportation agenda. Immigration officers have raided farms, construction sites, restaurants and auto repair shops.