The Department of Justice (DOJ) last week sued Elon Musk-owned SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against refugees and others in its hiring process between Sept. 2018 to May 2022. The billionaire entrepreneur lashed out at the DOJ in the aftermath of the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, the Justice Department alleged that “SpaceX routinely discourages 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).”
Responding to the lawsuit on Saturday, Alex Taborrok, professor of economics at George Mason University, took to X to share a screenshot of a post by the DOJ in which one of the conditions of employment stated, “US Citizenship is Required.”
“Do you know who else advertises that only US citizens can apply for a job? The DOJ,” said the economist.
Replying to Taborrok’s post, Musk said, “DOJ need to sue themselves.”
“I just can’t…roflmao.. the irony is too much,” he added.
Musk previously called out the weaponization of the DOJ in a separate post.
Commenting on the DOJ’s SpaceX lawsuit, one user said, “So, if I let a non-US citizen see our rocket hardware, I go to ITAR jail, but if i don’t hire a non US citizen I get sued by DoJ. Got it.”
Musk clarified that 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.”
Even Canadians were debarred despite Canada’s part in the North American Aerospace Defense Command, the billionaire said.
“This is yet another case of weaponization of the DOJ for political purposes,” he said.
Musk’s biographer Walter Isaacson also noted that Musk’s once-girlfriend Grimes was not allowed to go inside of the control room for the Starship’s launch attempt in April because she was a Canadian and not a U.S. citizen.
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Edited by Arnab Nandy
