Business leaders urge easing of US immigration enforcement after Georgia worksite raid

Business groups and overseas investors urged the White House on Monday to ease an intensified immigration crackdown after a large U.S. worksite raid at a Hyundai–LG battery plant in Georgia that detained hundreds of workers and halted construction.

The operation, described by authorities as the largest worksite enforcement action in U.S. history, resulted in the detention of 475 workers, including about 300 people from South Korea. Corporate and diplomatic sources said the raid has caused South Korean firms and officials to voice alarm, and some companies have limited business travel to the United States.

Construction on the battery facility — a joint venture between Hyundai Motor Co. and LG Energy Solution intended to supply batteries for electric vehicles — has been paused, according to company and trade sources. Business groups warned that the raid could have ripple effects across local economies by scaring off parts of the workforce critical to advanced manufacturing projects the administration has sought to bring onshore.

"Those actions are having ripple and ancillary effects on others, real and unintended," said Jeff Wasden, president of State Business Executives, which represents state-level business lobby groups. Wasden said he had contacted the White House seeking a shift from enforcement to reforms of U.S. visa programmes to support reshore efforts and workforce needs.

South Korean officials and business leaders said many of those detained entered the United States on temporary B-1 business visas that allow meetings and short visits but not paid employment. Firms from South Korea have long used such visas as a workaround amid frustration that the U.S. lacks a broader temporary-worker programme similar to those available to citizens of some other countries.

Jae Kim, president of the Southeast U.S. Korean Chamber of Commerce, said the visa process is "not an easy process" for foreign firms and warned that administrative hurdles make it harder for next-generation manufacturing projects to prosper in the United States. "A stronger balance of U.S. priorities" will be needed, he added.

The raid has highlighted tensions in the administration between promoting foreign investment and enforcing immigration laws. President Donald Trump said over the weekend he planned to "look at that whole situation," and in a subsequent social media post welcomed foreign investment while urging companies to obey U.S. immigration rules and hire American workers.

At the same time, administration officials signalled continued enforcement. Tom Homan, who has been involved in federal immigration enforcement efforts, told CNN that further worksite operations are expected.

Trade associations and employers have been increasingly vocal about the economic costs of aggressive workplace enforcement. Industry representatives say there are shortages of workers with the technical skills needed for semiconductor, battery and other advanced manufacturing projects that the U.S. is trying to reshore.

Advocacy groups and some administration officials have engaged in talks about possible immigration fixes. Jennie Murray, chief executive of the National Immigration Forum, said messages from the White House have been "mixed" but that officials in labour and agriculture departments have shown receptivity to business concerns about the economic consequences of raids.

But not all observers expect a swift policy shift. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum, a center-right policy institute, said he had seen "little sign" the administration was preparing to change its approach and suggested any alteration would depend on sustained pressure.

South Korean political leaders and business executives have warned that the enforcement action could chill future investment decisions. Analysts said the episode underscores the trade-offs facing a U.S. policy that seeks both to secure borders and to attract foreign capital and skilled workers for domestic industrial expansion.

The detained workers face immigration proceedings, and companies involved in the project are assessing the operational and reputational fallout. As debates continue in Washington over enforcement and visa policy, business groups and foreign partners are pressing for more predictable rules to support manufacturing projects seen as strategic to U.S. economic and security goals.