(Finance) – The Department of Justice of the United States has filed a lawsuit against SpaceX todaya space company founded by Elon Musk, for having discriminated against asylum seekers and refugees in hiring. The suit alleges that, from at least September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX routinely discouraged asylum seekers and refugees from applying for jobs and refused to hire or consider them, due to their citizenship status, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
In job postings and public statements for several years, SpaceX has incorrectly stated which, under federal regulations known as “export control laws,” SpaceX it could hire only US citizens and lawful permanent residents, sometimes referred to as “green card holders”. However, export control laws do not impose such hiring restrictions.
In addition, asylum seekers and refugees’ permission to live and work in the United States does not expire, and under export control laws, they are on an equal footing with US citizens and lawful permanent residents. Under these laws, companies like SpaceX can hire asylum seekers and refugees for the same positions they would hire US citizens and lawful permanent residents.
“Our investigation found that SpaceX did not fairly consider or hire asylum seekers and refugees due to their citizenship status and imposed what amounted to a ban on hiring them regardless of their qualifications, in violation of federal lawsaid Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
The Department of Justice also notes that SpaceX recruits and hires for a variety of positions, including welders, cooks, crane operators, bartenders and dishwashers, as well as computer specialists, software engineers, business analysts, rocket engineers and marketing professionals . THE jobs at issue in the lawsuit are not limited to those requiring advanced educational qualificationsis emphasized.