Trump reacts to major ice raid at the Hyundai factory

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that even if American immigration and customs application (ICE) were right to stop South Korean immigrants working illegally in a Hyundai battery factory in Georgia, the United States should consider letting foreign experts stay temporarily to train Americans in advanced industries.

Internal security surveys said 475 people – mainly South Koreans – had been arrested in the battery factory under construction. Hyundai said he has the site, but that none of the workers was directly employed by the company.

Asked about the ice operation on Sunday, Trump told journalists that the United States needed experts who know how to build batteries to help train Americans without experience of this type.

“If you do not have people in this country at the moment who know the batteries, we may have to help them …” said Trump, adding that industries such as shipbuilding and computer manufacturing also need qualified trainers. “So we are going to look at this whole situation. We have a lot of industries that we don’t have any more, and we will have to train people.”

South Korea reaches the agreement with us to release workers detained after an immigration raid

Workers are escorted by federal agents following an immigration raid on the construction site of the Hyundai battery plant in Georgia. (ATF Atlanta)

He continued to explain that the best way to train people is to bring people who know what they are doing, while letting them stay in the United States for a while to help.

However, Trump said that Ice was right to illegally stop those in the country. “We must find something where we call on experts so that our people can be trained so that they can do it themselves,” he said.

Later on Truth Social, Trump urged foreign companies investing in the United States to respect immigration laws while committing to “quickly and legally possible” to call on qualified workers.

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A view of the installation of the Hyundai Motor group in Georgia, part of an EV and battery project of several billion dollars (The Associated Press)

“Your investments are welcome, and we encourage you to legally bring your very intelligent people, with large technical talents, to build world class products, and we will make you quickly and legally possible for you to do so,” he wrote. “What we ask in return is that you hire and form American workers. Together, we will all work hard to make our nation not only productive, but closer to unity than ever. Thank you for your attention to this case!”

On Sunday, the South Korean government concluded an agreement with the United States to obtain the release of hundreds of migrant workers detained at the factory.

The massive DHS raid hits the Georgia Hyundai factory that Biden presented a major victory for “new American jobs”

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung announced his intention to send an airplane to Charter to the United States to transport illegal immigrants from his country who were arrested by ice in a Hyundai factory in Georgia on September 5, 2025. (AP)

President Lee Jae Myung’s office said South Korea would send a charter plane to bring workers back to South Korea in the coming days.

However, the government of South Korea has expressed “concern and regret” on the raid.

The head of internal security surveys, Steven Schrank, said that some workers had crossed the border illegally, while others had exceeded the visas or entered under derogations that prevented them from working. Many were used by subcontractors on the site.

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The Georgia Raid has marked one of the greatest actions to apply the Trump’s presidency of the presidency, part of a broader repression of illegal immigration.

Anders Hagstrom of Fox News Digital, Cameron Arcand and the Associated Press contributed to this report.