President Joe Biden’s administration has filed a lawsuit against SpaceX, the privately owned spaceflight company founded by billionaire Elon Musk.
In its 13-page complaint, the Justice Department alleges that SpaceX “discriminated against asylees and refugees throughout its hiring process, including during recruiting, screening and selection, in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”
The case’s outcome will be a landmark in corporate, immigration and labor law.
The Justice Department contends that, from September 2018 to May 2022, SpaceX discouraged asylees and refugees from applying for positions “by wrongly stating that SpaceX can only hire U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.”
The department further argues that Space X’s hiring policies were “routine, widespread and longstanding, and harmed asylees and refugees.”
For its part, SpaceX countered that because the company designs, manufacturers and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft, it can only hire U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, pursuant to U.S. laws and regulations.
A complex series of federal laws and regulations govern SpaceX and its competitors. Known as “Export Controls,” the regulations are comprised of the ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) and EAR (Export Administration Regulations) and collectively administered by the Commerce, State and Treasury departments.
Export Controls are “designed to prevent the spread of sensitive technologies to foreign actors that could threaten U.S. interests … (These) controlled technologies include defense articles, e.g., missiles, defense services, e.g., integration of a spacecraft onto a launcher, and dual-use items, e.g., commercial spacecraft and components.”
“Foreign actors that could threaten U.S. interests” deserves further analysis.
Bona fide asylum seekers who filed an asylum application, Form I-589, but have not received approval within 180 days, qualify for a work permit and employment — despite potentially being in the United States illegally.
Refugees admitted legally must apply for permanent residency within a year of arrival or are subject to deportation, but are immediately employable.
Through a nonlawyer’s eyes, Musk and his SpaceX legal team appear to have the stronger hand.
In Musk’s defense and in support of hiring citizens only, recent asylees and refugees include foreign nationals from Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Russia, Somalia and Syria, active or potential U.S. enemies.
Furthermore, SpaceX contends it can’t hire non-U.S. citizens because it must comply with the above-referenced export control restrictions.
Musk also cited a current Executive Order 11935, and called upon the Justice Department to sue itself for its seemingly, in view of its suit against SpaceX, discriminatory hiring practices.
As per the executive order, “only United States citizens and nationals” can be hired for federal jobs.
As an example of the feds’ discrimination against SpaceX, a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, cited a tweet by economist George Mason University economics professor Alex Tabarrok, who pointed out that the job requirements for the federal Bureau of Prisons specify “U.S. citizenship is required.”
Musk concluded, correctly, that the Justice Department’s action is “yet another case of weaponization of the DOJ for political purposes.”
The most foreboding challenge SpaceX faces is the Biden administration’s contemptible disregard for federal law.
The administration is particularly willing and eager to break immigration law. For nearly two years, Biden and his corrupt Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas have unconstitutionally sanctioned granting parole, which includes work permission, to thousands of unvetted worldwide migrants.
In 1952, Congress granted the Executive Branch parole authority, which “should be surrounded with strict limitations … in emergency cases, such as the case of an alien who requires immediate medical attention … and a witness or for purposes of prosecution.”
Instead of obeying congressionally passed law — the absolute minimum Americans should expect from their president — Biden has paroled en masse unvetted aliens who are inadmissible under any immigration category.
The sad but unsurprising truth is that, given what’s known about Biden and his anti-American agenda, his Justice Deparment is suing SpaceX because Musk’s company wants to hire U.S. citizens.