The massive U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at a Hyundai EV battery manufacturing plant in Georgia last week has likely set the facility’s opening back by several months, Chief Executive Officer José Muñoz told reporters Thursday.
“This is going to give us minimum two to three months delay, because now all these people want to get back [to South Korea],” Muñoz said in Detroit, as reported by Bloomberg. “Then you need to see how can you fill those positions, and for the most part, those people are not in the U.S.”
When completed, the factory, jointly operated by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, is expected to hire thousands of American workers. It was originally slated to come online later this year.
However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) carried out its largest single-site enforcement operation ever on Sept. 4, detaining nearly 500 people — mostly Korean nationals working on the technical components of building out the factory.
More than 300 South Korean workers were released from U.S. custody and are expected to arrive back in their home country on Friday, according to the nation’s foreign ministry.
“For the construction phase of the plants, you need to get specialized people,” Muñoz said, per CNBC. “There are a lot of skills and equipment that you cannot find in the United States.”
That has thrown company officials into a rush to fill in the gaps, the automaker executive said.
During a speech Sunday marking his first 100 days in office, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on the Trump administration to adjust visa rules for some skilled positions or risk losing future investments in the U.S.
“It’s not like these are long-term workers,” the South Korean leader said. “When you build a factory or install equipment at a factory, you need technicians, but the United States doesn’t have that workforce and yet they won’t issue visas to let our people stay and do the work.”
Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Euisun Chung also called for visa reform at the Detroit event on Thursday, per Bloomberg’s report.
“I’m really worried about that incident and we’re really glad they’re returning home safely,” he said. “Our government and the U.S. government are working closely, and the visa regulation is very complicated. I hope we can make it, together, a better system.”