SAVANNAH, Georgia — About 475 people were arrested in an immigration raid at a major Hyundai Motor Company manufacturing facility in Georgia, where electric vehicles are made, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official said.

Most of those arrested were from South Korea, Steven Schrank, the chief special agent in charge of homeland security investigations, said at a news conference Friday.

“This operation demonstrates our commitment to creating jobs for the people of Georgia and the United States. In fact, this is the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of homeland security investigations,” he said.

The investigation, he said, had been ongoing for months and agents had been receiving information from local community members and former workers.

Lee Jae-woong, a spokesman for the South Korean Foreign Ministry, described the number of Korean nationals arrested as “large,” but did not provide an exact number. He said the workers arrested were part of a “network of subcontractors” working for various companies at the site.

Thursday’s raid came at one of Georgia’s largest and most important manufacturing sites, a project that Gov. Brian Kemp and other officials have called the state’s largest economic development project. Hyundai Motor Group, South Korea’s largest automaker, began producing electric vehicles a year ago at the $7.6 billion plant, which employs about 1,200 people and is building a battery plant alongside it with LG Energy, which is set to open next year.

LG told The Associated Press in a statement that it was “closely monitoring the situation and is gathering all relevant details.” The company said it could not immediately confirm how many of its or Hyundai’s employees had been arrested.

“Our top priority is always to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees and partners. We will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities.”

Hyundai’s office in South Korea has not yet responded to requests for comment.

Linsey Williams, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), confirmed that federal authorities conducted an enforcement operation at the 3,000-acre (1,214-hectare) site west of Savannah. She said the focus of the agents was the construction of the battery plant.

Lee said in a televised statement that his department was taking proactive steps to investigate the case, including sending diplomats from the Korean embassy in Washington and the consulate in Atlanta to the site, and forming an on-site response team centered on the local representative.

“The business activities of our investors and the rights of our citizens should not be unfairly violated in the course of enforcing American laws,” he added.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that agents executed the search warrant as part of a criminal investigation into “allegations of illegal employment and other serious federal crimes.”

The Trump administration has launched sweeping immigration enforcement operations as part of a program of mass deportations. Immigration agents have raided farms, construction sites, restaurants and auto repair shops.

The U.S. lost more than 1.2 million immigrants from January to July, both illegal and legal, according to the Pew Research Center, based on preliminary data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Hyundai and LG’s joint venture, HL-GA Battery Company, also said in a statement that it was “fully cooperating with authorities” and had halted construction at the battery site to assist with the investigation.

Hyundai's electric vehicle plant has not stopped operations, said Bianca Johnson, a spokeswoman for the plant.

The Georgia plant has also been a testing ground for robots. Boston Dynamics, a Hyundai subsidiary, announced earlier this year that it would deploy its dog-like robot, Spot, to perform exterior quality inspections at the plant's welding shop. The Massachusetts-based robotics company also planned to deploy its humanoid robot, Atlas, at the site in the future.

Source