About 300 Korean workers who were working at the construction site of the joint battery plant between LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Co. were arrested in a U.S. immigration enforcement raid, and analysts say local construction firms and workers who failed to win contracts likely influenced the operation.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted a large-scale enforcement operation on the 4th (local time) in coordination with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and others at the LG Energy Solution-Hyundai Motor Co. joint battery plant site in Bryan County, Georgia. About 300 LG Energy Solution and partner company workers who had entered on the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) were arrested in the raid.
Industry sources say it is difficult to believe that several U.S. immigration and crime-related government agencies would suddenly carry out such a large operation based solely on reports from local residents. With a global company's joint battery plant being built, it is likely that politicians and local construction and equipment firms, who judged they would gain no special advantages during the construction, pressured authorities to conduct a crackdown.
The battery plant targeted in the enforcement action is being built by HL-GA Battery Co., a U.S. joint venture of LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Motor Co., which is investing $4.3 billion (about 6 trillion won). The construction is being carried out by Hyundai Engineering, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Group. Most of the construction partners are also related to Hyundai Engineering.
Hyundai Engineering handles most of the construction for factories and various infrastructure that Hyundai Motor Group builds at home and abroad. Hyundai Engineering also handled MetaPlant America (HMGMA), the eco-friendly vehicle production plant Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia built in Georgia, U.S., in October last year.
An official at an automaker who requested anonymity said, "From Hyundai Motor Co.'s perspective, choosing Hyundai Engineering is a reasonable choice, but local construction firms and workers who did not get the expected contracts and jobs likely resented it," and added, "Their pressure may have led to the authorities' large-scale enforcement."
No domestic battery manufacturer that is building a plant in partnership with a U.S. automaker has previously faced a large-scale immigration enforcement action. BlueOvalSK, a company set up by SK On with Ford, recently completed battery plant 1 in Kentucky and began operations last month. BlueOvalSK is also preparing to operate Kentucky plant 2 and the Tennessee plant.
An SK On official said, "At Ford's request, the factory construction was carried out by U.S. local firms and workers."
SK On previously established SK Battery America (SKBA), a battery manufacturing subsidiary in the U.S., and has been operating a plant in Georgia since 2022. That plant was completed with participation from SK ecoplant, an SK affiliate, and U.S. construction firms.
LG Energy Solution formed the battery joint venture Ultium Cells with General Motors (GM) and completed plant 1 in Ohio in 2022. Plant 2 in Tennessee began mass production last year, and plant 3 in Michigan is currently under construction. Ultium Cells also followed GM's wishes by involving mostly U.S. construction companies and workers in building plants 1 and 2. At that time, LG Energy Solution employees who traveled for short-term assignments mostly entered on ESTA, but U.S. immigration authorities did not raise any issues.
A battery industry official said, "Domestic corporations appear to have taken lightly the requirement to partner with U.S. firms and hire U.S. workers if they want to do business in the United States," and added, "Going forward, companies that set up entities or invest in the U.S. will likely have to pay more attention to local hiring."