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Korean worker released 22 days after detention in immigration raid in Georgia

Published: 27 Sep. 2025, 10:14

LG Energy Solution-Hyundai Motor battery plant construction site [YONHAP]

A Korean citizen was released on bail from a detention center in Georgia on Friday, 22 days after he and more than 310 Korean workers were arrested in an immigration raid at a Korean battery plant construction site in the state.

An official at Nelson Mullins, a law firm defending the man, surnamed Lee, told Yonhap News Agency that he was released from the facility in Folkston.

His release came a day after an immigration court approved the request for the release of the man — the only one who opted to stay in the United States, while the other Korean workers returned home following their Sept. 11 release from the Folkston facility.

Lee chose to remain in the United States to face a legal process following the detention, as he seeks permanent resident status in the country. His colleagues opted to return home under a "voluntary departure" arrangement rather than being deported.

U.S. immigration authorities arrested the workers in the Sept. 4 raid at the plant construction site for a joint Hyundai-LG Energy Solution venture, stating they were found to be working illegally in the United States, including those on short-term or recreational visas that bar them from working.

Yonhap