DOJ files lawsuit accusing SpaceX of hiring discrimination against refugees, asylum recipients

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday filed a lawsuit against SpaceX accusing the company of discriminating against asylum recipients and refugees in its hiring decisions.

The DOJ alleges that 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 (INA)." According to the suit, SpaceX wrongly claimed that federal regulations related to export controls restricted the company to only hiring U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders.

"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," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division. "Our investigation found that SpaceX recruiters and high-level officials took actions that actively discouraged asylees and refugees from seeking work opportunities at the company."

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"Asylees and refugees have overcome many obstacles in their lives, and unlawful employment discrimination based on their citizenship status should not be one of them," Clarke added. "Through this lawsuit we will hold SpaceX accountable for its illegal employment practices and seek relief that allows asylees and refugees to fairly compete for job opportunities and contribute their talents to SpaceX's workforce."

The DOJ's announcement noted that the permission granted by the federal government for asylees and refugees to live and work in the U.S. doesn't expire. The agency added that there is no restriction on asylees or refugees working for companies that have to comply with export controls. 

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Export controls seek to prevent the flow of information and technology to certain sanctioned destinations by requiring companies doing business in the U.S. to apply for an export license to ship a covered product to a sanctioned country, such as North Korea.

In the course of its business, SpaceX works with certain goods, software, technology and technical data that are subject to export controls, along with other regulations like the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations. The DOJ says that those laws and regulations "do not require SpaceX to treat asylees and refugees differently than U.S. citizens or green card holders."

That runs counter to a 2020 post by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on X, the social media platform then known as Twitter, which read, "US law requires at least a green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are considered advanced weapons technology." Musk's post was included in the DOJ's lawsuit, as were references to SpaceX not being able to hire people without at least a green card due to ITAR.

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The suit also lists numerous other instances in which SpaceX employees and hiring managers posted public announcements stating that the company could only hire U.S. citizens and green card holders. Data provided by SpaceX to the DOJ indicated that from September 2018 to May 2022, the company only hired one individual who identified themselves as an asylee during the application process out of more than 10,000 hires and did not hire any individuals who identified as refugees in their applications during that period.

The Justice Department is seeking "fair consideration and back pay for asylees and refugees who were deterred or denied employment at SpaceX due to the alleged discrimination." It is also pursuing civil penalties that may be determined by the court and policy changes to ensure SpaceX complies with the Immigration and Nationality Act's non-discrimination requirement in the future.

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The DOJ Civil Rights Division's Immigrant and Employee Rights Section is requesting that asylees or refugees contact the division if they either applied to a job at SpaceX and were rejected; were discouraged from applying to SpaceX because they weren't a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident; or were told by a recruiter or other SpaceX employee that the company could only hire U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to FOX Business' request for comment.

This story has been updated to clarify that refugees and asylees, rather than asylum seekers, were the subject of the DOJ's complaint.