Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
Hundreds of Korean workers detained in Georgia to file lawsuit against ICE
Korean workers at a Hyundai Motor Group-LG Energy Solution joint battery plant, who had been detained at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, are released on Sept. 11. Korea Times file
By Anna J. Park
Hundreds of Korean engineers who were arrested and detained during an immigration raid at a Hyundai-LG Energy Solution battery plant in Georgia in September are preparing to sue U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), alleging unlawful detention and mistreatment.
According to industry sources and a report by ABC News earlier this week, roughly 200 of those detained in the weeklong ordeal are preparing to file a lawsuit against ICE, alleging racial discrimination, human rights violations and excessive use of force during their arrests and detention. They are seeking compensation for damages.
The group was among roughly 317 Korean workers out of 475 people arrested by ICE agents in a surprise raid on Sept. 4 (local time), an operation that officials said was targeting undocumented workers.
However, many of those detained — most of whom are skilled engineers — held valid work visas and were legally employed at the nearly 3,000-acre electric-vehicle battery plant in Georgia.
“To this day, we still don’t know why we were detained like that. There has been no apology or explanation from the authorities,” said Kim, one of the detained workers who spoke to ABC News on condition of anonymity. He added that this was one of the main reasons he decided to join the lawsuit.
Korean engineers who had been detained in Georgia by U.S. immigration authorities are seen leaving the arrival hall of Terminal 2 at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, Sept. 12. Korea Times photo by Choi Joo-yeon
Kim described how the detainees were transported to the ICE detention facility in Folkston, Georgia, where they were confined for seven days. He recounted that the experience was both terrifying and humiliating.
"The agents confiscated our phones and shackled us around the wrists, ankles and chest. Being confined in a space controlled by armed personnel, unable to see what was happening ahead or behind, with no explanations; it was terrifying. I felt utterly powerless," he said. "We were treated like dangerous fugitives, not engineers."
Kim added that during the weeklong stay at the detention center, they were "completely cut off from the outside world and had no understanding of what was going on."
Inside the facility, conditions were described as harsh and degrading. Detainees were packed into rooms with 60 to 80 people each, sleeping on moldy mattresses and drinking foul-smelling water.
“The toilets had no privacy,” Kim recalled. “The place was cold and unsanitary — we felt like criminals even though we had done nothing wrong.”
Many also reported being subjected to racial taunts and ridicule from some guards. “They made comments about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and even pulled their eyes sideways to mock Asians,” Kim told ABC News.
The Korean detainees were eventually released on Sept. 11 without any charges against them, but many say the psychological scars remain.
“We were detained for seven days with no clear reason. ... All we want now is for the record to be corrected and the truth to be known," Kim emphasized.
Companies employing the detained workers, including LG Energy Solution and Hyundai Engineering, said that they are not involved in the matter, as "the lawsuit is being pursued on an individual basis."