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   From: nowomr@protonmail.com   
      
   The Justice Department sued Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Thursday, alleging the   
   company routinely discriminated against refugees and asylum seekers in its   
   hiring process.   
      
   According to the lawsuit, SpaceX officials said on numerous occasions   
   between 2018 and last year that it could hire only U.S. citizens and   
   green-card holders because of restrictive export control laws governing   
   the use of rocket and missile technology. The government cited several   
   cases in which the company made this assertion publicly and listed   
   citizenship as a requirement in job postings, even though “export control   
   laws impose no such hiring restrictions.”   
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   “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,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of   
   the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department said in a statement   
   announcing the lawsuit. “Our investigation also 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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   SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment. SpaceX officials have for   
   years asserted in interviews that its hiring practices were dictated by   
   the requirements of a federal law known as the International Traffic in   
   Arms Regulation.   
      
   Like many rocket companies, SpaceX takes ITAR seriously. It closely guards   
   access to its manufacturing facilities and limits what outside   
   photographers and videographers can shoot for fear of sensitive designs   
   being made public.   
      
   The work SpaceX and other space companies do is so sensitive that recently   
   the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, the FBI and the Air   
   Force Office of Special Investigations issued a joint bulletin about   
   foreign intelligence threats to the U.S. space industry.   
      
   In the bulletin, the agencies said foreign intelligence entities   
   “recognize the importance of the commercial space industry to the U.S.   
   economy and national security, including the growing dependence of   
   critical infrastructure on space-based assets. They see U.S. space related   
   innovation and assets as potential threats as well as valuable   
   opportunities to acquire vital technologies and expertise.”   
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   As a result, adversaries are using “cyberattacks, strategic investments   
   (including joint ventures and acquisitions), targeting of key supply chain   
   nodes, and other techniques to access and exploit the U.S. space   
   industry.”   
      
   But the bulletin said nothing about hiring as a potential concern.   
      
   The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, an industry group   
   to which SpaceX belongs, wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit. But in a   
   statement, it noted that its members take the requirements of ITAR   
   seriously. “ITAR applies to everything AIAA does and the Institute   
   carefully assures we operate within the ITAR requirements,” the statement   
   said.   
      
   In its suit, the Justice Department said it opened its investigation in   
   2020 “and found reasonable cause to believe that SpaceX had engaged in a   
   pattern or practice of unfair immigration-related employment practices.”   
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   In one instance, the lawsuit says, Musk, SpaceX’s founder and chief   
   executive, posted on Twitter in 2020 that “U.S. law requires at least a   
   green card to be hired at SpaceX, as rockets are advanced weapons   
   technology.” Investigators also found at least 14 public announcements   
   “stating that SpaceX can only hire U.S. citizens and lawful permanent   
   residents” because of the International Traffic in Arms Regulation, the   
   lawsuit alleges.   
      
   The lawsuit says that, according to SpaceX data, the company hired only   
   one person out of more than 10,000 hires “who was an asylee and identified   
   as such in his application.” SpaceX made that hire, the lawsuit asserts,   
   about four months after the Immigrant and Employee Rights Section at the   
   Justice Department had notified the company of its investigation. The   
   lawsuit notes that SpaceX hires for “a wide variety of positions”   
   including “welders, cooks, crane operators, information technology   
   specialists, software engineers, dishwashers, business analysts, rocket   
   engineers, marketing professionals, baristas, and more.”   
      
   SpaceX in recent years has become one of the top suppliers for NASA and   
   the Pentagon and a trusted partner to launch American astronauts to the   
   International Space Station, as well as sensitive national security   
   satellites. SpaceX is scheduled to launch its seventh crew rotation   
   mission to the station Friday morning. The Pentagon has also awarded   
   SpaceX a contract to operate its Starlink internet satellite network in   
   Ukraine, where it has been a key communications tool for the Ukrainian   
   military.   
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   Clarke said the Justice Department intends to “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.” Clarke added that “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.”   
      
   The lawsuit seeks an order for SpaceX to hire qualified applicants it   
   wrongly said were ineligible and to pay “an appropriate civil penalty as   
   determined by the Administrative Law Judge for each individual   
   discriminated against.” Over the years, the company, based in Hawthorne,   
   Calif., has grown rapidly and has about 11,000 employees at locations in   
   California, Florida, Texas, Washington state and the District of Columbia.   
      
   This is not the first time a Musk company has faced bias accusations.   
   Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer Musk leads, for years has battled   
   lawsuits alleging workplace discrimination against its Black employees,   
   including one filed by California’s state workplace regulator last year.   
   In April, a judge ordered the company to pay a Black ex-worker more than   
   $3 million. And in June, about 240 Black Tesla workers filed for class-   
   action status in a case alleging rampant racism at the Fremont, Calif.,   
   factory.   
      
   Tesla also has faced lawsuits alleging sexual harassment, and former   
   Twitter employees filed a suit this month alleging that Musk’s layoffs   
   discriminated based on gender, race and age. Twitter workers in Africa and   
   Twitter workers with disabilities have also sued. SpaceX has faced claims   
   of age discrimination in the past.   
      
      
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