A new lawsuit against Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX is an example of the politicization of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Tesla Inc. CEO and Twitter owner says.
The Biden administration on Aug. 24 sued Mr. Musk’s company over its alleged preference to hire U.S. citizens and permanent residents over people granted asylum or refugee status.
The company “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,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s civil rights division, said in a statement.
Mr. Musk said he was told that International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) required SpaceX to hire permanent residents, who have green cards, and U.S. citizens.
“SpaceX was told repeatedly that hiring anyone who was not a permanent resident of the United States would violate international arms trafficking law, which would be a criminal offense,” Mr. Musk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, after the suit was made public.
“We couldn’t even hire Canadian citizens, despite Canada being part of NORAD! This is yet another case of weaponization of the DOJ for political purposes,” Mr. Musk wrote.
In another post, he said that the fundamental principle of ITAR “is that U.S. companies who have advanced weapons technology, such as rockets with intercontinental range, must hire people who are permanent American residents, so that the technology does not fall into the hands of countries who wish us harm.”
ITAR is a set of U.S. rules that govern companies that produce certain items and technology.
SpaceX produces rockets.
ITAR restricts access to the items and technology to U.S. persons, defined as U.S. citizens, permanent residents, refugees, and asylees. Foreign persons, who need authorization from the federal government, include people with work visas who lack permanent resident status.
Mr. Musk and other SpaceX officials have said over the years that to comply with ITAR and other regulations, they would focus on or hire only U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
