ATLANTA — More than 300 South Korean nationals detained in a 2025 immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG battery plant construction site in Georgia have begun filing administrative claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act against the U.S. government.
The claims, which began a year after the operation, name nine federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). CNN first reported the filings, which ACoM independently confirmed with several of the workers and their attorneys.
On Sept. 4, 2025, more than 400 federal and state law enforcement officers, led by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, raided the Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution joint battery plant construction site in Ellabell, Georgia, west of Savannah. The raid resulted in the detention of 475 workers in what DHS called the “largest single-site operation in Homeland Security Investigations history.” Most of the workers detained were foreign nationals from Asia — primarily South Korea — drawing immediate diplomatic responses from their home governments.
After diplomatic negotiations, 316 of the 317 South Korean workers returned home eight days after their arrest, along with 14 workers from China, Japan and Indonesia.
Of the remaining workers, primarily from Venezuela, only nine were released, while the rest were deported, removed, self-deported, or granted voluntary departure.
No criminal charges or legal actions have been brought against Hyundai or its primary contractors in connection with the raid. Hyundai has said none of its own employees were detained. Of the South Koreans held, 47 worked for LG Energy Solution, and the rest were employed by subcontractors.
An LG Energy Solution official stated that the company learned of the filings from media reports and will not get involved, calling them individual decisions by the workers.
A South Korean engineer, who spoke to ACoM on condition of anonymity, described his eight-day detention: “I spent my whole life as a proud, professional engineer, but I felt humiliated when I was treated like a criminal in Georgia. I couldn’t sleep all night, having no idea what would happen to me. I bore all the pain and anger thinking about my family in Korea.”
He pointed to his seamless return as evidence he had done nothing wrong: “After returning to Korea, I re-entered the US using the same passport and visa without any issues at immigration.”
A Korean American attorney who represents several of the workers and spoke with ACoM on condition of anonymity said filings are ongoing because of the volume of documentation and evidence involved.
“This action is about seeking accountability from the U.S. government and restoring the reputation of these workers,” she said. “Hundreds of armed officers raided the site and arrested law-abiding workers who were actively contributing to the U.S. economy. Our goal is to hold the government accountable, secure a sincere apology for these workers, and ensure this conduct is documented for history.”
Separately, Alfredo Fajardo Melgarejo, a Colombian national detained in the raid, filed his own Federal Tort Claims Act suit to “challenge violent and unlawful conduct by officers of ICE during a worksite raid,” according to Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta and Centro de los Derechos del Migrante. The groups announced the claim at a Sept. 4 press conference in Savannah.
The FTCA requires claimants seeking damages for personal injury, property loss or wrongful conduct by federal employees to file an administrative claim before suing the federal government. If a federal agency denies a claim or fails to resolve it within six months, claimants may then sue in federal court.
In his statement, Fajardo Melgarejo alleged ICE officers choked, manhandled and humiliated him at gunpoint while subjecting him to racial slurs. He also said he was denied a phone call for the first 11 days of his detention, leaving his family to fear he had died.
“ICE officers are not above the law,” said Julia Solórzano, legal and policy director at Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, in a statement. “All workers deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, no matter their immigration status.”
JONGWON LEE
Jongwon is an attorney and journalist. Prior to law practice, he REPORTED for Kyunghyang Daily News in South Korea, and was the managing editor of the Korea Daily Atlanta. He received a B. A from Korea University and a J.D from Georgia State University College of Law.
