EV localisation challenges
US immigration raid Hyundai Metaplant battery site and arrest 475 workers
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US immigration authorities arrested 475 workers at Hyundai’s Metaplant in the US state of Georgia in a raid carried out on September 4.
Production at the plant in Ellabell has not been affected but Hyundai’s Korean battery partner at the site, LG Energy, has halted construction work at the complex. LG Energy Solution is building a large-scale battery cell manufacturing plant on the Metaplant complex as part of a joint venture with Hyundai called HL-GA Battery Company
In a statement issued on September 5, Hyundai Motor confirmed that the US immigration enforcement action took place at the construction site of the HL-GA Battery Company and that based on its current understanding, no detainees were directly employed by Hyundai Motor.
At a press conference held on Friday (September 5), Steve Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for the states of Georgia and Alabama, said that it was the largest single site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations across the country.
Schrank said that after months of investigation by his department and law enforcement partners, including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US Department of the Labor and the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations executed a search warrant in relation to allegations of unlawful employment practices. No criminal charges have been announced in what is an ongoing matter but in the process of entering the plant Schrank said that investigators encountered 475 workers who were illegally present in the United States or in violation of their status there. Those 475 workers, who were mainly Korean, were arrested and are being held the Folkston ICE Processing Center in Georgia.
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Schrank also said that Homeland Security made seizures at the plant as part of the investigation to gather additional evidence and conducted interviews as part of the continuing investigation.
Asked who the workers were employed by Schrank only said that the employees worked for a variety of different companies on the site which includes “a network of subcontractors”.
“Each individual was questioned on their status, their documents were checked, their backgrounds checked,” said Schrank. “Ultimately in coordination with our experts and attorneys in the background, those that were found to be illegally present were detained and turned over to ICE enforcement and removal operations custody.”
Hyundai said that it is committed to full compliance the laws and regulations in every market in which it operates, including employment verification requirements and immigration laws, and that it expects the same commitment from suppliers, contractors and subcontractors.
“The safety and well-being of everyone working at our sites, whether directly employed by us or working for our suppliers, is a top priority,” said Hyundai in its statement. “We take our responsibility as a corporate citizen seriously, and incidents like this remind us of the importance of robust oversight throughout our entire supply chain and contractor network.”
Hyundai said its North America chief manufacturing officer Chris Susock is assuming governance of the entire Metaplant site in Georgia and the company will conduct its own investigation to ensure all suppliers and their subcontractors comply with all laws and regulations.
The Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) was officially opened in March this year as part of an overall $21 billion injection into its business in the US. The Metaplant represents an investment of $5.54 billion by Hyundai and its suppliers, with a further $6 billion earmarked to localise parts and strengthen logistics. Since then, the carmaker has said it will increase funding by $5 billion to accelerate growth. The additional investment includes expanding vehicle production to an annual capacity of 500,000, building a steel mill in Louisiana and developing a robotics hub with 30,000-unit annual capacity. The expansion will create 25,000 direct jobs.
Hyundai and LG Energy Solution established the $4.3 billion electric battery facility at the Metaplant complex in 2023.
Tensions between localisation goals and labour enforcement
The raid has exposed a growing contradiction between the drive to localise EV manufacturing in the US and the global workforce structures often required to build and scale these facilities.
Automakers had previously been eligible for consumer tax credits of up to $7,500 per vehicle under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), provided certain thresholds for domestic battery content and final assembly were met. However, some provisions related to these incentives have since been repealed or revised, altering the compliance landscape for OEMs operating in North America.
Despite this shift, OEMs continue to invest heavily in localised EV production capacity across states like Georgia, where Hyundai, SK On, and Rivian are building or expanding operations to strengthen domestic supply chains and reduce geopolitical risk.
However, the highly specialised nature of battery manufacturing means that many OEMs initially rely on foreign engineers, technicians and installers to set up production lines, commission tooling, and train US teams.
Now, with construction halted and Hyundai temporarily suspending international travel for technical teams, there is growing uncertainty about how OEMs can balance localisation mandates with visa compliance and enforcement risks.
