Ellabell, Georgia —
A sprawling Hyundai manufacturing plant in a quiet southeast Georgia community became ground zero on Thursday for one of the most extensive immigration raids in recent US history. The operation, months in the making, ended with 475 arrests, most of them Korean nationals.
As state troopers blocked roads leading to the plant and set up a security perimeter, nearly 500 federal, state and local officers poured into the sprawling battery production facility, still under construction.
Agents moved swiftly, lining up workers along the walls. Word of the raid spread across the property, triggering a scramble among workers who attempted to flee, with some running to a sewage pond and others hiding in air ducts.
The officers spoke with each worker, one by one, working to de