The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit on Thursday against SpaceX, a rocketry company founded by Elon Musk, alleging that the firm discriminated against asylum seekers and migrants.

From “at least September 2018 to May 2022, 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),” a departmental news release reads.

The DOJ elaborated that SpaceX reportedly created job postings stipulating that only green-card holders were eligible. However, this does not reflect American law, the department clarified. Refugees whose “permission to live and work in the United States does not expire, and they stand on equal footing with U.S. citizens.”

“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 said in a statement.

The DOJ 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, a member of the department’s Civil Rights Division, added. “[A]sylees and refugees have overcome many obstacles in their lives, and unlawful employment discrimination based on their citizenship status should not be one of them.”

According to the lawsuit, of more than 10,000 hires made by the company, only one person “was an asylee and identified as such in his application.”

In a 2016 speech at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico, Musk was asked why employees of the spacecraft firm were largely only Americans. “I think people are very confused about this,” the tech entrepreneur answers.

“Unfortunately, this is not up to us,” Musk continued. “If you’re working on rocket technology that’s considered an advanced weapons technology. So even a normal work visa isn’t sufficient unless you get special permission from the secretary of defense.”

“This is not out of some desire of SpaceX to just hire people with green cards — it’s because we’re not allowed to do anything else. I think this is not a wise policy for the US because there are so many talented people all around the world that we would love to have work at our company. But unless [they] can somehow get a green card, we’re legally prevented from hiring anyone.”

Given the sensitive nature of the work at SpaceX, the company must comply with the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR). The policy restricts foreign nationals from working in areas crucial to American national-security.

“They [SpaceX] can lose the contracts,” an immigration lawyer focused on export controls told CNN, for not complying with ITAR. “The penalties for violating export control license are very substantial.”

SpaceX was first alerted to the investigation in June 2020.