The US government has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s rocket business, SpaceX, for allegedly discriminating against immigrants and those seeking asylum.
The US Department of Justice stated in a statement on Thursday that SpaceX falsely represented that the firm could only hire US citizens and permanent residents owing to export control restrictions, discouraging asylum seekers and refugees from applying for positions. According to the Justice Department, US law does not force businesses to treat asylum seekers and refugees any differently from citizens or people with green cards, even if SpaceX must abide by regulatory restrictions on the export of some commodities and technologies.
The Justice Department announced that it would approach the courts to impose civil penalties on SpaceX and seek backpay for refugees and asylum seekers who were discouraged from applying for work or were denied employment.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke from the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department remarked, “Our investigation has determined that SpaceX did not appropriately assess or hire individuals seeking asylum and refugees due to their citizenship status. This effectively constituted a prohibition on their employment, regardless of their qualifications, which goes against federal regulations.”
“Our examination further unveiled that senior executives and recruiters within SpaceX intentionally obstructed asylum seekers and refugees from submitting job applications to the company. Unlawful discrimination in employment based on an individual’s citizenship status should not be an additional hurdle that those seeking asylum and refugees have to contend with in their life journeys.”
Musk called the lawsuit “yet another case of weaponizing the [justice department] for political purposes” in a post on X, the social media site that replaced Twitter.
According to Musk, the owner of X, “SpaceX was repeatedly warned that hiring anyone who was not a permanent resident of the United States would violate international arms trafficking law, which would be a crime.”
Despite the fact that Canada is a member of NORAD, we were unable to even hire Canadians.
An inquiry for a response from SpaceX did not receive a timely reply. Musk, one of the richest men in the world, established SpaceX in 2002 with the intention of bringing down the price of space flights and permitting planetary exploration in the future.
The business also provides commercial internet service using Starlink, a network of thousands of low-orbit satellites that has been crucial for battlefield communications in Ukraine ever since Russia invaded the nation.
