U.S. immigration officials say some 475 people were detained during an immigration raid at a sprawling Georgia site where South Korean auto company Hyundai manufactures electric vehicles. South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong described the number of detained South Koreans as "large" though he did not provide an exact figure. No charges were immediately announced. Officials from Homeland Security Investigations say the raid resulted from a monthslong investigation into allegations of illegal hiring at the site and was the largest single-site enforcement operation in the agency's two-decade history.

President Donald Trump's administration has awarded a $1.2 billion contract to a tiny Virginia company to build and operate what's expected to become the nation's largest immigration detention complex at Fort Bliss in Texas. Acquisition Logistics LLC has no experience running correction facilities and had never won a federal contract for more than $16 million. The Pentagon refuses to disclose the Army's contract with Acquisition Logistics or explain why it selected the company to build the massive tent camp. The Department of Homeland Security oversees the camp and says it's "working at turbo speed on cost-effective and innovative ways" to fulfill the president's promise of mass deportations.

A top Florida official says the controversial state-run immigration detention facility in the Everglades will likely be empty in a matter of days, even as Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration fights a federal judge's order to shutter the facility dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" by a late October deadline. That's according to an email exchange shared with The Associated Press. Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Kevin Guthrie says in an email to a South Florida rabbi on Aug. 22 in regard to providing spiritual care at the facility that "we are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days."

Lawyers seeking a temporary restraining order against an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades say that "Alligator Alcatraz" detainees have been barred from meeting attorneys. They also say that the detainees are being held without any charges and that federal immigration courts have canceled bond hearings. A virtual hearing in federal court in Miami was held Monday over the lawsuit. Critics have condemned the facility as a cruel and inhumane threat to detainees, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican state officials have defended it as part of the state's aggressive push to support President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says deportation flights from the remote Everglades immigration lockup known as Alligator Alcatraz began in the past few days. DeSantis said Friday that the flights operated by the Department of Homeland Security have transferred about 100 detainees from the immigration detention center to other countries. He expects that number to increase soon. Officials say two or three flights have happened, though they didn't say which countries those flights headed to. Critics have condemned the facility as cruel and inhumane, but DeSantis and other Republicans have defended it as part of the state's aggressive push to support President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.

The world's largest immigration detention system is on the cusp of explosive growth as President Donald Trump pursues his signature campaign promise of mass deportations. The deportations represent a potential bonanza for private prison companies and a challenge to the government agencies responsible for the orderly expulsion of immigrants. Some critics say the administration's plans also include a deliberate attempt to isolate detainees by locking them up and holding court proceedings far from their attorneys and support systems. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is starting to scale up from its current budget for about 41,000 beds to 100,000 beds.

U.S. authorities have arrested and detained Canadian and European travelers at U.S. borders in recent weeks. German tourist Lucas Sielaff says he spent 16 days in detention in San Diego before being allowed to return to Germany. He says he was accused of living in Las Vegas with his American girlfriend. Sielaff says he lives in Germany and never overstayed his 90-day authorization to visit the U.S. At least three other international travelers say they were detained at U.S. borders and held for an extended period at detention centers. They all say they did not violate the terms of their authorizations nor commit any crimes. The U.S. government did not comment on why they were detained and not simply denied entry.

A federal judge says a Columbia University student activist's legal challenge of his detention by the U.S. government will be heard in New Jersey rather than New York or Louisiana. Judge Jesse Furman on Wednesday ordered the switch to New Jersey to occur immediately for the claims brought by Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia. The judge said the case belongs in New Jersey because Khalil was in a detention facility there when the lawsuit was filed. U.S. officials had asked that it be moved to Louisiana, where Khalil is now detained. The judge called it an "exceptional case" in need of "careful judicial review."