From A Priori to Zero Tolerance

Alleging the world-leading orbital space-launch provider’s hiring practices discriminate against asylum seekers and refugees, the Biden DOJ has sued SpaceX.

In a statement, the DOJ set forth: “The lawsuit alleges that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylees and refugees from applying and refused to hire or consider them, because of their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.” the Justice Department said in a statement.

The Department added: “In job postings and public statements over several years, SpaceX wrongly claimed that under federal regulations known as ‘export control laws,’ SpaceX could hire only U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, sometimes referred to as ‘green card holders.”

The cited laws bar foreign persons from being given access to export-controlled items without approval from the State Department or Department of Commerce, but permits U.S. persons including citizens, residents, refugees and asylum seekers—so states the DOJ lawsuit.

Immigrants “had virtually no chance of being fairly considered or hired for a job at SpaceX,” the lawsuit states, contending SpaceX’s “hiring practices were routine, widespread, and longstanding, and harmed asylees and refugees.”

The Justice Department characterized social media posts made by SpaceX owner Elon Musk as examples of “discriminatory public statements.”

The lawsuit cited a June 2020 post on X, formerly called Twitter, in which Musk wrote: “U.S. law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are advanced weapons technology.”

The suit notes Musk, at a 2016 international conference, stated SpaceX hires require “special permission from the Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State” to comply with International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Several recruiters also cited the law to reject applicants. Between 2018 and 2022, SpaceX hired just one asylum seeker — four months after the Justice Department began investigating the company.

Federal agencies such as NASA have awarded SpaceX billions of dollars in contracts for communications and satellite technologies.

Musk, a South African immigrant and naturalized U.S. citizen, is currently in the midst of additional legal battles with the Biden-controlled DOJ following his 2022 $44 billion buyout of Twitter—a buyout that effectively ended leftist suppression of conservative voices.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, who heads the Justice Department’s Office of Civil Rights, brought the SpaceX suit following an investigation by the division’s Immigration and Employee Rights Section.

Clarke declared: “Our investigation found that SpaceX failed to fairly consider or hire asylees and refugees because of their citizenship status and imposed what amounted to a ban on their hire regardless of their qualification, in violation of federal law.”

Clarke claimed, also, that SpaceX recruiters and high-level officials “actively discouraged” asylum seekers and refugees from seeking work opportunities at the company.

The DOJ stated the United States seeks “fair consideration and back pay” for asylum seekers and refugees ostensibly deterred or denied employment at SpaceX due to the alleged discrimination.

The DOJ lawsuit also seeks civil penalties in an amount to be determined by court and policy changes to ensure SpaceX complies with the federal non-discrimination mandate going forward.

FMI: www.spacex.com