A significant immigration raid at a Hyundai manufacturing facility in southeast Georgia has left nearly 500 workers detained and their families in distress. Rosie Harrison, director of the non-profit Grow Initiative, reported that her organization has been inundated with calls from anxious families seeking assistance. “We have individuals returning calls every day, but the list doesn’t end,” Harrison said. She noted that families are facing an unprecedented crisis since the raid occurred on September 4, which U.S. officials have labeled the largest workplace immigration enforcement action in two decades.

Most of the 475 individuals detained were Korean nationals who have since returned to South Korea. However, many non-Korean immigrants remain in a state of uncertainty, according to lawyers and social workers. As the raid unfolded, workers began contacting Migrant Equity Southeast, a local organization that provides legal and financial resources to immigrants. Spokesperson Vanessa Contreras stated that the organization received calls from individuals hailing from Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Witnesses reported that federal agents confiscated cellphones from workers and organized them into long lines. Some workers sought refuge in air ducts or remote areas of the facility to evade capture, while others reportedly hid in a nearby sewage pond. Families outside the plant frantically reached out to the organization, desperate for information about their loved ones who had suddenly become unreachable.

Advocates for the detained workers assert that some individuals had legal authorization to work in the U.S. Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded to requests for comment regarding the raid. The exact number of those still in custody remains unclear.

Charles Kuck, an attorney representing both Korean and non-Korean detainees, revealed that two of his clients were legally employed under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. One client was released, while the other remains detained due to a recent DUI charge. Another client was seeking asylum and had the same employment documents as her husband, who was not arrested. Rosario Palacios, who assists Migrant Equity Southeast, noted that some detainees possessed valid Georgia driver's licenses, which are not available to undocumented individuals.

Families have reported losing access to transportation because the detained individuals were often the primary drivers. “It’s hard to say how they chose who they were going to release and who they were going to take into custody,” Palacios said, adding that some detainees lacked an alien identification number and remain unaccounted for.

Kuck criticized the raid as indicative of the broader immigration enforcement strategy under the previous administration, stating, “The redefinition of the word ‘criminal’ to include everybody who is not a citizen, and even some that are, is the problem here.” Many families who contacted Harrison's organization expressed that their detained relatives were the sole providers, leaving them in dire need of essentials like baby formula and food.

The impact of the raid is compounded by the impending closure of another major employer in the area, International Paper Co., which is set to lay off 800 workers at the end of the month. Harrison emphasized that her organization does not inquire about immigration status, yet nearly all families reaching out indicated that their detained loved ones had legal work authorization, leading to confusion over the arrests. “The worst phone calls are the ones where you have children crying, screaming, ‘Where is my mom?’” Harrison said.