DOJ Lawsuit Says Elon Musk’s SpaceX ‘Harmed Asylees and Refugees’ by Hiring Americans
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) for allegedly “discriminating” against refugees and causing them “harm” by hiring American citizens.
The DOJ’s complaint alleges, “In online postings and statements by SpaceX’s CEO and other SpaceX officials and recruiters, SpaceX discouraged asylees and refugees from applying to the company by wrongly stating that SpaceX can only hire U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.” The department added, “SpaceX’s discriminatory hiring practices were routine, widespread, and longstanding, and harmed asylees and refugees.”
SpaceX “designs, manufactures, and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft.” Because of the nature of the industry, SpaceX and similar companies are subject to federal regulations pertaining to national security, ensuring that certain intelligence material does not end up in the hands of foreign nationals.
The two regulations allegedly cited by the company’s recruitment team are the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) which “restrict an employer’s ability to export certain goods, software, technology, and technical data, referred to as export-controlled items,” according to the DOJ’s suit.
Musk previously posted on his social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), “U.S. law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are considered advanced weapons technology.”
“This is yet another case of weaponization of the DOJ for political purposes,” Musk said in response to the lawsuit. “SpaceX was told repeatedly that hiring anyone who was not a permanent resident of the United States would violate international arms trafficking law, which would be a criminal offense. We couldn’t even hire Canadian citizens, despite Canada being part of NORAD!”
The DOJ argues in its lawsuit that ITAR and EAR do not prevent employers from hiring non-U.S. citizens by making an obscure interpretation of the regulation in which “A ‘U.S. person’ under ITAR and EAR, includes a U.S. citizen or national, a lawful permanent resident, a refugee, or an asylee.”
Tom Mueller, another rocket developer and CEO of Impulse Space said, “So, if I let a non-US citizen see our rocket hardware, I go to ITAR jail, but if I don’t hire a non-U.S. citizen I get sued by DoJ. Got it.”
The DOJ lawsuit requests that the Administrative Law Judge order SpaceX to cease and desist its hiring practices, pay an undetermined civil penalty, and give eligible candidates who were not hired by SpaceX and were found to have “suffered uncompensated lost wages due to denied or delayed employment” backpay, including interest.
