US authorities detain up to 450 'unlawful aliens' at Hyundai Motor's Georgia site, ATF says

Up to 450 "unlawful aliens" at a Hyundai Motor facility under construction in Georgia have been detained in a major raid by U.S. law enforcement and immigration authorities, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said on Friday.

The site is a joint venture battery production facility of South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution (LGES) and Hyundai Motor that is due to start operations at the end of this year, according to LGES.

An agent at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said multiple U.S. agencies "conducted a judicially authorised enforcement operation, as we are actively conducting an investigation into unlawful employment practices."

"Arrests are being made," Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations for Georgia, said in a news briefing aired on local U.S. television.

A Korean news report said about 30 South Korean nationals had been detained at the site in the raid by U.S. authorities.

The Atlanta office of the U.S. Justice Department agency ATF reported the raid in a post on X.

LGES declined to comment.

Hyundai Motor said its production of electric vehicles at the sprawling site was not affected.

A spokesperson at the Hyundai-GA battery company said in a statement that it was "cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities regarding activity at our construction site" and that it had paused construction work to assist.