JAKARTA - Around 200 Korean engineers who were arrested during a U.S. immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG Energy Solution battery plant in Georgia are preparing to sue the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).

The migrant workers are accusing the U.S. agency of unlawful detention, racial discrimination, and mistreatment despite holding valid visas, ABC News first exclusively reported.

In early September 2025, ICE detained a total of 475 people during a raid at a manufacturing site in Georgia where Hyundai and LG are building a major electric-vehicle battery plant. The workers said they were shackled, mocked, and kept in cold, unsanitary detention centers for a week without explanation.

Over 300 of them were South Koreans, while the rest included a handful from Mexico, Japan, China, and Indonesia.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry later intervened through its embassy and consulate, protesting the arrests and demanding the engineers’ release, as many held valid visas. Diplomatic talks led to their release a week later, on September 11.

Both governments then agreed to clarify what business activities are allowed under B-1 and ESTA visas and are considering a dedicated visa or quota system for Korean professionals to prevent similar incidents.

Now, around 200 of the formerly detained Korean workers are pursuing the lawsuit on an individual basis. They are requesting compensation for the damages they say they endured.

The companies involved stated that the lawsuit is being filed individually by the workers.

Since U.S. President Donald Trump took the White House, ICE has stepped up workplace raids, going after companies and foreign workers as part of his push to tighten immigration rules.

But the raids have come at the expense of foreign workers and nationals who hold valid visas to enter and conduct business in the United States. The Georgia Hyundai-LG raid in September 2025 is considered the biggest single-site operation in the agency’s history.

An October 2025 survey by the Associated General Contractors of America and NCCER found that labor shortages are the main reason for U.S. construction project delays, with 92 percent of firms struggling to find qualified workers and 45 percent facing delays as a result. 

Nearly a third of companies said ICE’s brutal crackdown has worsened the problem with at least 1 in 10 workers left or didn't show up at work because of actual or rumored immigration actions.