When Gov. Brian Kemp announced a Hyundai Motor Group electric vehicle factory on a sandy site near Savannah in 2022 , it was hailed as the largest economic development project in state history — and the centerpiece of his push to make Georgia the hub of U.S. EV manufacturing .

What started as a roughly $5.5 billion project soon grew to a proposed $7.6 billion investment and then to $12.6 billion when Korean giant LG Energy Solutions joined as a partner on an adjacent battery factory .

But last week’s federal immigration raid of the campus’ battery plant site, which led to 475 arrests , jolted both Georgia politics and U.S.-South Korea relations. The Bryan County plant, backed by about $2 billion in taxpayer-funded incentives , is under sharp new scrutiny.

The fallout is far fr

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