Jakarta. Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed that one of its nationals was detained during a large-scale US immigration raid at Hyundai’s electric vehicle plant in Georgia, where federal agents arrested 475 people, most of them Korean nationals.

Judha Nugraha, Director for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens, identified the Indonesian only by the initials CHT, saying the individual had been at the Hyundai Metaplant for a business meeting with company representatives when the raid occurred.

Judha stressed that the Indonesian citizen was carrying complete and valid travel documents, including a passport, visa, and an official invitation from Hyundai.

“CHT had a one-month business trip plan in the U.S. and was equipped with a passport, visa, and company invitation,” Judha said, as quoted by state news agency Antara.

Following the detention, the Indonesian Consulate General in Houston established contact with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Processing Center in Folkston, Georgia, where CHT is being held. However, ICE has not yet provided detailed information about the Indonesian’s condition.

“The consulate will provide consular assistance for CHT,” Judha confirmed, adding that Indonesian officials are also coordinating with CHT’s business counterparts and Hyundai.

Mass Immigration Sweep
The incident occurred as US federal agents carried out one of the largest immigration enforcement operations in recent years at Hyundai’s electric vehicle factory, detaining hundreds of workers. The sweep has drawn international attention due to the number of foreign nationals involved, many of them South Korean citizens.

South Korea’s Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said Saturday that more than 300 South Koreans were among the 475 people detained.

Some of them worked for the battery plant operated by HL-GA Battery Co., a joint venture by Hyundai and LG Energy Solution that is slated to open next year, while others were employed by contractors and subcontractors at the construction site, according to Steven Schrank, the lead Georgia agent of Homeland Security Investigations.

He said that some of the detained workers had illegally crossed the US border, while others had entered the country legally but had expired visas or had entered on a visa waiver that prohibited them from working.

But an immigration attorney representing two of the detained workers said his clients arrived from South Korea under a visa waiver program that enables them to travel for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa.

Attorney Charles Kuck said one of his clients has been in the US for a couple of weeks, while the other has been in the country for about 45 days, adding that they had been planning to return home soon.

The detainees also included a lawful permanent resident who was kept in custody for having a prior record involving firearm and drug offenses, since committing a crime of “moral turpitude” can put their status in jeopardy, Lindsay Williams, a public affairs officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Saturday.

Williams denied reports that US citizens had been detained at the site since “once citizens have identified themselves, we have no authority.”

Hyundai Motor Company said in a statement Friday that none of its employees had been detained as far as it knew and that it is reviewing its practices to make sure suppliers and subcontractors follow US employment laws. LG told The Associated Press that it couldn’t immediately confirm how many of its employees or Hyundai workers had been detained.

The South Korean government expressed “concern and regret” over the operation targeting its citizens and is sending diplomats to the site.

“The business activities of our investors and the rights of our nationals must not be unjustly infringed in the process of U.S. law enforcement,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong said in a televised statement from Seoul.

Most of the people detained have been taken to an immigration detention center in Folkston, Georgia, near the Florida state line. None of them has been charged with any crimes yet, Schrank said, but the investigation is ongoing.

Family members and friends of the detainees were having a hard time locating them or figuring out how to get in touch with them, James Woo, communications director for the advocacy group Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, said Saturday in an email.