Hyundai CEO Reacts To ICE Raid On GA Battery Plant: Report

ELLABELL, GA — The CEO of a Hyundai electronic battery plant that was the focal point of the recent immigration raid of 475 workers in coastal Georgia says he learned of the federal operation on the news.

Hyundai CEO José Muñoz participated in a media roundtable on Thursday and told CNN he "could not believe I what saw" when news broke that the multitude of workers had been detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency on Sept. 4 at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America in Ellabell.

Of the 475 detainees, at least 300 of them have been taken back to their home country of South Korea.

“I think both governments, South Korea and the US, are working activity to try to ensure that situation like this don’t happen again,” Muñoz told reporters, per CNN.

He told them South Korea’s LG Energy Solution runs the Georgia plant, located about 225 miles from Atlanta, and this could be the reason why he was not immediately informed. Muñoz added he has been in contact with the Trump administration.

Hyundai has relocated some of its workers from other plants to make up for the loss at the Ellabell facility, CNN reported. He advocated that specialized foreign workers be granted special visas, a measure that does not exist between the U.S. and South Korea, CNN reported.

“What I’ve learned in the past couple of days and weeks is that activities in this particular battery factory that require a very specific expertise that is not in the country,” Muñoz told reporters, per CNN.

The CEO, in an opener at an investor conference in New York, expressed empathy for the detained staffers and said he understands the "stress and hardship this has caused for them and their families,” CNN reported.

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• 300+ Detained In Hyundai Raid Leave GA For South Korea: Report
• ICE Detains 475 In Immigration Raid At GA Hyundai Plant: Reports

The raid was the largest in the history of Homeland Security Investigations, media reports say. The plant is used to make electric vehicles in Ellabell, which is located about 27 miles from Savannah.

In a Sept. 5 news release, federal authorities say the detainees were arrested after violating the terms of their visas or statuses.

The detainees were suspected of unlawfully living and working in the U.S., CBS News reported citing federal officials. A number of the detainees were suspected of violating their visa waivers, unlawfully entering the U.S. or overstaying their visas, Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations, said at the news conference.

Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America came to fruition after a 2022 agreement with joint venture partner LG Energy Solution, according to a February 2024 news release from Gov. Brian Kemp.

At the time, Kemp's office noted more than $4.3 billion were being put into a battery cell manufacturing joint venture at the Metaplant in Bryan County, and Hyundai was partnering with SK On for a Bartow County electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility that was set to supply Hyundai Motor Group’s plants in the U.S.

After the raid stalled its initial plans, Hyundai on Thursday said it is sticking with the expansion of its Georgia plant and pushed back the facility's opening date to early 2026, CBS News reported.

Hyundai intends to see an uptick in the produced models of electric and hybrid gas-electric vehicles in Georgia, rising from two to 10, CBS News reported. Ultimately, the auto manufacturer reportedly desires to generate 5.6 million of these vehicles globally on a yearly basis by 2030.