[Update on Hyundai-LG ICE raid] “Worse than jail”: 300 Korean workers are detained Georgia ICE detention center notorious for human right abuses

At Hyundai Motor’s U.S. Georgia plant, more than 300 Korean workers arrested in an immigration raid have been taken to ICE detention facilities notorious for overcrowding and human rights abuses.

The ICE detention center in Folkston, southeastern Georgia, had plans to expand capacity from around 1,100 to over 2,900 detainees, but those plans were halted in June following opposition from immigrant rights groups and ethical reviews. Human rights organizations argue that the Folkston facility is already overcrowded and that its profit-driven private management structure jeopardizes detainees’ welfare and safety. The facility is operated by the GEO Group, a major U.S. private prison contractor under contract with ICE.

To contact detainees inside the facility, outsiders must provide ICE with detailed personal information such as date of birth, country of origin, and registration number. Detainees themselves cannot receive incoming phone calls. To leave an urgent message, one must contact ICE directly for relay. Legal representatives must also submit prior paperwork before gaining access to detainee information. These procedural barriers make it difficult for Korean workers to obtain consular assistance or maintain contact with their families.

The Folkston facility is also criticized for poor living conditions. According to reports from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), inspections conducted between 2022 and 2023 found blocked toilets, mold, rust, and peeling paint in unsanitary bathrooms. Detainees were also found to have been improperly shackled, with restricted access to recreation and laundry facilities.

In August, the Atlanta Community Press Collective interviewed a Jamaican detainee, who said the facility was “worse than prison,” describing standing water on the shower floors mixed with feces, pubic hair, and saliva. A joint report released in November 2023 by the Detention Watch Network and El Refugio also documented that, in 2022, 16 detainees were left outdoors in over 90°F (32°C) heat for three hours without food, water, medicine, or shade. One detainee suffered an asthma attack and requested an inhaler more than 30 times but was denied.

Such incidents were deemed clear violations of ICE’s detention standards, breaching multiple rules on access to medical care, freedom of expression, and basic human rights protections. Some detainees claimed that filing complaints resulted in retaliatory solitary confinement or physical abuse.