Hyundai Motor’s massive battery manufacturing project in Georgia faces significant delays after federal immigration enforcement detained hundreds of workers last week, forcing the South Korean automaker to recalibrate construction timelines at one of the state’s largest industrial developments.
Chief Executive Jose Munoz told reporters Thursday that the company expects “minimum two to three months delay” following the September 4 raid that saw Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detain 475 people at the $4.3 billion ($5.98 trillion won) joint venture with LG Energy Solution near Savannah.
The facility, originally slated to begin battery production by year-end, now won’t restart construction until the first half of 2026, according to LG Energy. The delay threatens the broader $7.6 billion ($10.6 trillion won) Hyundai Metaplant project, which was designed to create 8,500 jobs and produce batteries for 300,000 electric vehicles annually.
The raid has rippled across South Korean business operations in the US, with sources indicating that at least 22 other factory sites involving Korean conglomerates have nearly halted work. The enforcement action targeted workers using short-term visa programs, exposing a structural weakness in how Korean companies staff complex manufacturing projects requiring specialized expertise.
Most of the detained workers were South Korean nationals employed by subcontractors rather than Hyundai directly, according to federal officials. The incident has strained US-South Korea business relations just weeks after Seoul pledged $350 billion in American investments.
