South Korea outraged as Hyundai-LG workers return home after US raid

(GEORGIA) More than 300 South Korean workers were detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai–LG Energy Solution battery factory site in Georgia on September 4, 2025, triggering a political storm in Seoul and urgent talks with Washington. U.S. officials said the workers broke visa rules. South Korea called the operation a “humiliation” and warned the fallout could hit future investment. The episode has become a major test for allies amid a push to build the U.S. electric vehicle supply chain in Georgia and beyond.

Detentions, release, and swift diplomatic fallout

U.S. agents detained 330 Asian workers, including 316 from South Korea, at the construction site and moved them to a detention center in Folkston, Georgia. The group included a pregnant woman and workers from China, Japan, and Indonesia.

After days of tense negotiations, the United States allowed most of the South Korea nationals to fly home on a Korean Air charter flight that landed at Incheon on September 12, 2025. Officials in Seoul greeted the returnees at the airport, promising support and pledging that this would not happen again.

Public anger spiked after U.S. video footage showed some South Korea workers in shackles. Families said they struggled to reach their relatives while they were held. Senior Korean officials said the treatment felt like handling “prisoners of war,” language that resonated widely in Seoul.

President Lee Jae Myung condemned the raid as an “unjust infringement,” and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun flew to Washington to secure their release and to push for changes that would let skilled Korean technicians return to Georgia to finish the job.

The U.S. side, including Homeland Security Investigations official Steven Schrank, said the operation targeted people who overstayed, entered without proper documents, or violated entry terms. Detainees were reportedly told to choose between immediate deportation, which carries a five-year reentry ban, or staying in detention to fight their cases—a process that could take months. Most chose to go home. At least one worker stayed in the United States because of family ties.

The Hyundai–LG project—valued at $5.5 billion and expected to create up to 8,500 jobs—suffered a temporary halt in Georgia. LG Energy Solution CEO Kim Dong Myung said delays would be “manageable,” but Korean firms are now reassessing U.S. timelines and staffing plans.

President Lee warned that unless Washington fixes the visa bottleneck, companies could rethink future projects. The tone is notable given the scale of South Korea’s recent announcements to support U.S. high-tech manufacturing.

Diplomatic pressure delivered some immediate movement. Both governments agreed to form a bilateral working group to fix the root causes. South Korea says the United States also agreed in principle to let many of the same workers come back to complete time-sensitive installation work once proper entries are arranged.

The effort comes at a delicate moment, with strict enforcement emphasized under President Trump in 2025 after earlier signals from the President Biden administration that visa rules for short technical trips would be enforced more tightly.

Visa rules at the heart of the clash

At issue is the long-running practice of sending short-term specialists—engineers and installers—to set up complex machinery at U.S. plants. Many of the detained South Korea workers entered on B-1 business visas or through the Visa Waiver Program, often called ESTA.

These entries allow certain meetings and site visits but do not permit “work” in the United States or pay from a U.S. source. According to the U.S. Department of State, these categories are limited to business activities such as consultations and contract negotiations; they are not for hands-on installation or servicing that counts as employment.

Readers can review the government’s guidance at the State Department’s visa portal: U.S. Visas – travel.state.gov.

Immigration lawyers say the proper options—such as H-1B for specialty occupations or L-1 for intracompany transferees—often do not fit urgent, short-term needs at greenfield sites.

• H-1B visas have annual caps and strict criteria.
• L-1 visas require a qualifying corporate relationship and prior employment abroad.

For a team of installers needed for only a few weeks or months, these routes can be slow or impractical. As a result, companies leaned on B-1/ESTA entries—a gray area that many say had been tolerated for years. That tolerance is now gone, and the immigration raid in Georgia shows the new risk.

Charles Kuck, an immigration attorney representing several detainees, said the workers have specialized knowledge that cannot be replaced quickly by local hires. Industry leaders, including Park Tae-sung of the Korea Battery Industry Association, echoed that point.

They argue that without fast legal pathways for urgent technical tasks, factories will stall and costs will rise, hitting both sides of the Pacific.

Proposed fixes and bilateral talks

South Korea and the United States are discussing a new visa category or quota tailored to short-term industrial work by vetted technicians. The bilateral working group is expected to present ideas in the coming months.

Proposals under consideration include:

• Time-limited entries with clear job scopes
• Stronger employer guarantees
• Rapid verification of skills
• Quotas or dedicated tracks for high-skill short-term industrial work
• Quicker processing and clearer rules so firms know exactly what is allowed on site

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, a dedicated visa track for short-term, high-skill industrial work could protect supply chains while keeping enforcement strong at U.S. worksites. Until then, legal exposure will stay high, and factory timelines could slip each time a project reaches the installation phase.

Human and local economic impact

The human toll is real. Workers described fear and confusion as officers arrived, and families back home spent days without direct contact. The choices put before detainees—leave now and face a five-year bar, or remain locked up while waiting for court—felt harsh to many in South Korea.

For community leaders near the plant, the freeze hit local construction schedules and payrolls. County officials worry that future talent pipelines could dry up if firms avoid sending specialists to the United States 🇺🇸.

For businesses, the lesson is immediate:

1. Do not rely on B-1/ESTA for any activity that might be seen as labor or services in the U.S.
2. Build lead time for proper work-authorized entries if the role involves hands-on installation or servicing.
3. Keep full records showing who pays wages, what tasks are planned, and how long staff will remain on site.
4. Prepare contingency staffing plans in case inspectors arrive without notice.

Wider implications and next steps

This episode comes after high-level summits and large Korean investments tied to U.S. clean-energy goals. The stakes are more than diplomatic language: if short-term specialists cannot enter lawfully and quickly, assembly lines wait, and communities in Georgia lose momentum promised by the Hyundai–LG site.

Both governments now accept that current rules do not match what modern industrial projects need. The bilateral working group will have limited time to recommend workable fixes.

For now, most of the 316 South Korea nationals are back home. Seoul says they may be allowed to return later to Georgia once lawful entries are secured.

Important: Without a timely fix, the shock from the September 4, 2025 raid will echo through budgets, hiring plans, and boardrooms on both sides of the alliance.