Top News

United States District Judge Leigh Martin May has approved an $11.5 million settlement for a group of migrant workers from Mexico who filed a lawsuit against Hyundai Mobis, Kia Georgia and others, alleging they were deceptively recruited to work for Hyundai and Kia in West Point, Georgia, according to reports by CBS News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The class-action case, first filed in 2022, says the engineers were promised high-skilled roles under temporary “TN” visas, a work visa category specifically meant for professions such as engineering. Instead, reports by CBS News and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution say more than 600 skilled workers were made to work on assembly lines and were threatened with deportation if they complained or tried to look for another job.

“It’s a result we’re proud of,” Brian Sutherland, an Atlanta-based civil rights lawyer who represented the workers, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We hope this sends a signal to other employers that the costs of engaging in alleged fraudulent schemes like this can far outweigh any potential benefit they may think they’re going to derive from it.”

The defendants, including Hyundai, Kia and two Georgia-based recruitment firms, denied any wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The agreement also says it should not “be construed as an admission by the Defendants to any of the Plaintiffs’ factual allegations, including any and all alleged criminal conduct.” Representatives for Hyundai and Kia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

TN visas are tightly regulated during the approval stage, with U.S. officials reviewing applications before workers arrive and again when they enter the country. The job offer itself is also examined. However, immigrant rights groups say that once TN visas are approved, oversight of the actual job is reportedly limited. Workers on TN visas are generally allowed to stay in the U.S. only for specific approved jobs, which means they cannot seek employment outside the employer listed in their approval. In addition, assembly line work is generally not permitted under the scope of a TN visa.

“I want all workers, especially TN workers, to know that it is possible to take action against employers and win justice. All workers have rights, no matter which country we are from. We are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect. I hope this case and this settlement inspires others to speak out against labour violations,” said Isidro Arellano, one of the plaintiffs named in the lawsuit, according to CBS News.

This settlement comes less than a year after more than 300 South Korean workers were detained in an immigration raid on September 4, 2025, at a Hyundai and LG electric vehicle battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia. Those workers spent a week in federal detention before being repatriated by the South Korean government.