Some Korean workers detained in Georgia immigration raid have returned to their jobs at Hyundai site

Two months after 300 South Korean nationals detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia left the U.S., some of those workers have returned to America to resume working, their employer said.

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Two months after 300 South Korean nationals were detained and left the U.S. following an immigration raid at Hyundai’s electric vehicle manufacturing site in Georgia, some of those workers have returned to America to resume those jobs, their employer said Thursday.

The September raid shut down work on a battery plant under construction at the sprawling site near Savannah where Hyundai Motor Group began producing electric vehicles last year. Most of the 475 workers detained were South Korean nationals. U.S. immigration officials said they entered the U.S. with visas that had expired or with visa waivers that prohibited them from working.

The battery plant’s operator, HL-GA Battery Co., said in a statement Thursday that construction has resumed with a mix of new and returning workers. The company thanked the U.S. and South Korean governments, as well as Georgia officials, “for their collaboration in supporting a smooth and timely return.”

“We remain on track to start production in the first half of next year and continue to actively hire local positions to operate the facility,” the battery company’s statement said.

South Korean workers arrive back home after being detained in U.S. immigration raid03:53An HL-GA Battery spokesperson, Mary Beth Kennedy, confirmed to The Associated Press that some of the returning workers were among the South Korean nationals detained in September. Kennedy said she did not know how many.