The Homeland Secuirty Department said the agents had a judicial search warrant claiming illegal employment practices.
Helicopter circles on hmgma plants near savanna during ice attack
Video of a helicopter circling a Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant American plants during an ice attack on the morning of September 4th, 2025.
On September 4, federal agents arrested hundreds of people at a vast battery factory construction site in Georgia in one of the Trump administration’s biggest immigration attacks.
The Federal Alcohol Administration, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have joined the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency agents, and Georgia patrols in operations at Hyundai’s battery factory in Brian County, southwest of Savannah. The ATF said in the X-Post that the agents had arrested around 450 people suspected of being in the country illegally.
In an email, DHS said that immigration and customs enforcement homeland security investigations have executed judicial search warrants for ongoing criminal investigations on unlawful employment practices and other federal crimes.
The agency did not make clear that it accused the number of agents involved in the operation or their detained faces.
“We arrest a lot of undocumented individuals,” Stephen Schrank, a special agent in charge of the Homeland Security Investigation Atlanta, said at a news conference streamed by a local news agency. “We met many legal employees, US citizens and legal permanent residents who work here. They are of course released.”
Schrank said there were no injuries or “use of force” in the surgery. He said details about the RAID will be released later.
The facility is HL-GA Battery Company, a battery plant jointly created by LG Energy Solutions and the Hyundai Motor Group. It is currently under construction next to Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America on a site spanning approximately 3,000 acres.
Hyundai’s new $7.6 billion factory in a rural area near Savanna has pledged to change the local economy and workforce. It is estimated that the facility will create approximately 8,500 jobs by 2030.
Hyundai spokesman Bianca Johnson said in an email that there will be no impact on the metaplant or its production.
Law enforcement was carried out at the construction site of the HL-GA battery factory, she said. “We are working with law enforcement and are committed to following all labor and immigration regulations.”
Mary Beth Kennedy, a spokesman for the HL-GA Battery Company, said in a statement that the company is “completely working with the appropriate authorities regarding our activities at the construction site.”
“We suspended construction to help them with their work,” Kennedy said. “There are no details at this time.”
Savannah Morning News, part of the USA Today Network, was told to leave the facility as state troopers blocked a helicopter hovered over the plant site during the raid. Images posted by ATF show Zip Ties men and women being escorted from the site.
Georgia Patrol Colonel Crystal Sion said the department supported federal officials with “service of criminal search warrants in operations at Hyundai Metaplant.” Zion did not share any additional information and directed inquiries to the Homeland Security Investigation.
The Georgia raid was one of the biggest terms of President Donald Trump’s second term, as he uses multiple federal agencies and uses support from local and state law enforcement to pledge drastic immigration crackdowns across the country. Assaults are being carried out across the country not only on restaurants and car washes, but also on farms and construction sites.
During Trump’s first term, in August 2019, agents arrested 680 people at seven Mississippi chicken processing plants.
Contribution: Savannah Morning News
