DOJ seeks to drop immigration case against Musk’s SpaceX
Elon Musk, who currently serves as a top adviser to President Donald Trump, was initially sued in August 2023
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicated it would be dropping its case against Elon Musk's SpaceX, where the company was accused of engaging in employment discrimination against asylum recipients and refugees.
In a Thursday court filing in Brownsville, Texas, DOJ lawyers asked a judge to end a pause in proceedings to allow them to file a notice of dismissal. The DOJ said it would dismiss the case with prejudice, which means the case can not be brought again.
Musk, who currently serves as a top adviser to President Donald Trump, was initially sued in August 2023. The DOJ filed an administrative complaint alleging SpaceX "routinely discouraged 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)."
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The suit stated that SpaceX wrongly claimed that federal laws and regulations restricted the company to only hiring U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders.
The Justice Department indicated it would be dropping its case against Elon Musk's SpaceX on Thursday, where the company was accused of engaging in employment discrimination against asylum recipients and refugees. ( Chesnot/Getty Images / Getty Images)
"DOJ needs to sue themselves!" Musk tweeted out on X, formerly Twitter, after the suit was filed. Musk attached a photo of a job posting at the federal Bureau of Prisons showing that U.S. citizenship is required as a condition of employment.
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"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," Musk said in a separate post. "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."
The DOJ filed an administrative complaint alleging SpaceX "routinely discouraged 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)." (CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
SpaceX has previously denied wrongdoing, saying in a November 2023 filing that export laws impose "strict limitations on who it can employ."
"SpaceX follows strict policies and procedures to both ensure compliance with all export control laws and regulations and also prevent any unlawful discrimination," the company said.
Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency are currently the targets of various other lawsuits as the department seeks to slash unnecessary spending in the federal government. (Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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SpaceX also sued to block the administrative complaint, which would be overseen by an administrative judge. The company argued that administrative judges are improperly appointed by the U.S. attorney general under the concept that such powers are only reserved for officials appointed by the president.
Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency are currently the targets of various other lawsuits as the department seeks to slash unnecessary spending in the federal government.
Musk responded to the DOJ's action on Friday, writing on X, "The Biden administration launched a massive multi-year lawsuit against SpaceX for not hiring asylum seekers, despite the fact that SpaceX is legally BARRED from hiring non-permanent residents under ITAR, because rockets are an advanced weapons technology.
"In other words, it was both illegal to hire asylum seekers and illegal not to hire asylum seekers!!
"An insane case of lawfare against [SpaceX}."
Reuters and Fox News Digital's Eric Revell contributed to this report.