The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s SpaceX, alleging that the company discriminated against asylum recipients and refugees in its hiring practices. The lawsuit claims that from September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX actively discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them based on their citizenship status, which is a violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Justice Department accuses SpaceX of falsely claiming that federal regulations regarding export control laws restricted the company to hiring only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, commonly known as “green card holders.” The lawsuit also references discriminatory public statements made by Musk himself.

In response to the lawsuit, Musk characterized it as the “weaponization of the DOJ for political purposes” and claimed that SpaceX was informed multiple times that hiring individuals who were not permanent residents of the United States would violate international arms trafficking law. The U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Kristen Clarke, stated that an investigation had found SpaceX to have failed in fairly considering and hiring asylees and refugees due to their citizenship status. Clarke also accused SpaceX recruiters and high-level officials of actively discouraging these individuals from seeking employment opportunities at the company.

The lawsuit seeks fair consideration and back pay for asylum recipients and refugees who were deterred or denied employment at SpaceX due to the alleged discrimination, as well as civil penalties to be determined by the court. It also calls for policy changes to ensure that SpaceX complies with federal non-discrimination mandates in the future. The Justice Department’s action highlights the importance of equal employment opportunities and challenges the practice of discriminating against individuals based on their immigration status.

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