Immigration Update – September 08, 2025
Headlines:
Hundreds Arrested at Georgia Hyundai Plant in Massive Operation – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested approximately 475 people during a raid on a Hyundai manufacturing plant outside of Savannah, Georgia. About 300 of those arrested were from South Korea.
USCIS Plans to Recruit and Train ‘Special Agents’ to Exercise Additional Law Enforcement Authorities – The special agents’ activities will include “making arrests, carrying firearms, executing search and arrest warrants, and other powers standard for federal law enforcement.”
All EB-2 Immigrant Visas for FY 2025 Have Been Issued; New Visa Numbers for FY 2026 Will Become Available on October 1 – U.S. embassies and consulates cannot issue additional EB-2 visas until the start of fiscal year 2026 on October 1, 2025. On that date, new visa numbers will become available, and processing will resume for qualified applicants.
DHS Terminates 2021 TPS Designation for Venezuela; Judge Restores TPS for Venezuelans and Haitians – The Department of Homeland Security announced that the 2021 designation of Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status will end on November 7, 2025. A U.S. district judge ruled that ending TPS for about 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians was unlawful and restored their TPS.
U.S. Suspends Nonimmigrant Visas for Most Palestinians – The Trump administration has suspended nonimmigrant visas for most Palestinian passport holders, in addition to an earlier suspension of visas for Gazans. The suspension includes visas for university studies, medical treatment, business, and other types of temporary visits, including some Palestinian officials who were planning to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting.
Details:
Hundreds Arrested at Georgia Hyundai Plant in Massive Operation
According to reports, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested approximately 475 people during a raid on a Hyundai manufacturing plant outside of Savannah, Georgia, that produces electric cars and is in a joint venture with South Korea’s LG Energy Solutions to make car batteries. The workers at the battery plant under construction were arrested “as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices and other serious federal crimes,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. The search warrant showed that four Latino workers at the facility were initially sought.
An ICE spokesperson said the raid was “the largest single-site enforcement operation in the history of Homeland Security Investigations.” About 300 of those arrested were from South Korea, whose government expressed “concerns and regret” to the United States and urged “special attention to ensure that the legitimate rights and interests of our citizens are not violated.” A South Korean foreign ministry spokesperson said that the “economic activities of Korean investment companies and the rights and interests of Korean citizens must not be unfairly infringed upon during U.S. law enforcement operations.” Yvonne Brooks, president of the Georgia American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), said, “Georgia’s labor movement is outraged by ICE’s escalating presence at workplaces across the state.”
Many of the workers were apparently employed by contractors. Hyundai said in a statement that “it is our understanding that none of those detained are directly employed by Hyundai.” A Hyundai spokesperson said, “We are cooperating with law enforcement and are committed to abiding by all labor and immigration regulations.”
The detainees were being held at an ICE facility in Folkston, Georgia, pending a decision on where they should be taken. In late-breaking news, South Korean Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik announced a plan to return the South Korean detainees to South Korea on a chartered flight after “administrative procedures” were completed. On the “State of the Union” show on September 7, 2025, President Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, said that “we’re going to do more worksite enforcement operations.”
USCIS Plans to Recruit and Train ‘Special Agents’ to Exercise Additional Law Enforcement Authorities
On September 4, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it plans to recruit and train special agents who will exercise additional law enforcement authorities. Specifically, “newly minted USCIS 1811 classified officers (commonly known as special agents) will be empowered to investigate, arrest, and present for prosecution those who violate America’s immigration laws under a final rule.”
The special agents’ activities will include “making arrests, carrying firearms, executing search and arrest warrants, and other powers standard for federal law enforcement.” USCIS said it “will have greater capacity to support [Department of Homeland Security] efforts by handling investigations from start to finish, instead of referring certain cases to Homeland Security Investigation[s] [HSI] within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE]. This will allow ICE HSI and [Enforcement and Removal Operations] to focus on disrupting transnational crime and capturing and deporting illegal aliens. USCIS will be able to more efficiently clear its backlogs of aliens who seek to exploit our immigration system through fraud, prosecute them, and remove them from the country.”
All EB-2 Immigrant Visas for FY 2025 Have Been Issued; New Visa Numbers for FY 2026 Will Become Available on October 1
On September 2, 2025, the Department of State announced that all immigrant visas in the employment-based second preference (EB-2) green card category for fiscal year (FY) 2025 have been issued. As a result, U.S. embassies and consulates cannot issue additional EB-2 visas until the start of FY 2026 on October 1, 2025. On that date, new visa numbers will become available, and processing will resume for qualified applicants.
Applicants in the United States pursuing adjustment of status may continue to file and advance their cases if eligible, but final approvals will be held until new visa numbers become available.
DHS Terminates 2021 TPS Designation for Venezuela; Judge Restores TPS for Venezuelans and Haitians
On September 5, 2025, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the termination of the 2021 designation of Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), effective 11:59 p.m. on November 7, 2025.
DHS said that Venezuelans leaving the United States can use the CBP Home mobile application to “report their departure from the United States and take advantage of a safe, secure way to self-deport that includes a complimentary plane ticket, a $1,000 exit bonus, and potential future opportunities for legal immigration.”
Meanwhile, on September 5, 2025, a U.S. district judge ruled that ending TPS for about 600,000 Venezuelans and 500,000 Haitians was unlawful. He said, “For 35 years, the TPS statute has been faithfully executed by presidential administrations from both parties, affording relief based on the best available information…, a process that involves careful study and analysis. Until now.” Writing that conditions in the two countries were “so dangerous that even the State Department advises against travel,” the judge restored TPS extensions that run until February 2026 for Haitians and October 2026 for Venezuelans. A DHS spokesperson said the agency was assessing its legal options.
U.S. Suspends Nonimmigrant Visas for Most Palestinians
According to reports, the Trump administration has suspended nonimmigrant visas for most Palestinian passport holders, in addition to an earlier suspension of visas for Gazans. The suspension includes visas for university studies, medical treatment, business, and other types of temporary visits.
As part of the ban, the Department of State said it would not issue visas for Palestinian officials who are members of the Palestine Liberation Organization or the Palestinian Authority and not based in the United Nations Palestinian mission who were planning to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting that opens on September 9, 2025, in New York City.
The DOS statement says that the “[Palestinian Authority] Mission to the UN will receive waivers per the UN Headquarters Agreement.”
Firm in the News
Cyrus Mehta has authored an article, Navigating Conflicts of Interest in H-1B Worker Terminations, published by Law360.
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