Prince Harry’s US visa is currently at the centre of a long-running legal case after a US-based conservative think tank questioned why he was allowed into the US in 2020after he admitted in his book Spare to taking drugs
Prince Harry could face a fresh blow in his US visa row following the latest ruling by a judge.
Earlier this month, a judge hinted that he is open to the possibility of releasing some of the sealed documents from Harry’s US visa application. The long-running legal case was sparked when conservative Washington DC think tank The Heritage Foundation questioned why the Duke of Sussex was allowed into the US in 2020 after he admitted in his book Spare taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.
The think tank has argued that Harry either received special treatment from the Biden administration or had lied on his immigration forms. Several weeks ago, Judge Carl Nichols told a hearing in Washington DC that he wanted “maximum disclosure as long as it doesn’t violate privacy.”
Harry and wife Meghan earlier this week (
Image:
PA)
And now court documents reveal that the judge has now set a date for next Thursday (February 20) for the US government to state which legal documents related to the case can be disclosed. After that, the judge says “the Court will determine what portions of those materials can be produced to Heritage”.
The ruling also comes just days after US President Donald Trump publicly spoke out about the case saying he would not deport Harry. But in a brutal dig at Meghan, he added: “I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
US visa applications specifically ask the individual about current and past drug use, which can have a detrimental impact on the progress of the application. Prolific drug use can lead to applications being rejected, however, immigration officers use their discretion against a range of factors.
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US President Donald Trump has said he would not deport Harry (
Image:
Getty Images)
In a previous hearing for the case in September, a judge ruled that the public did not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke’s immigration records, but the Heritage Foundation is asking for the judgment to be changed. The organisation originally brought the lawsuit against the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) after a Freedom of Information Act request was rejected, with the think tank claiming it was of “immense public interest”.
In his controversial memoir, the duke said cocaine “didn’t do anything for me”, adding: “Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me.” The Heritage Foundation’s lawsuit argued that US law “generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry” to the country.
The think tank also said answers on the duke’s prior drug use in his visa application should have been disclosed as they could raise questions over the US government’s integrity. In the DHS’s response to the legal claim, it said: “Much like health, financial, or employment information, a person’s immigration information is private personal information.”
The submissions previously made by lawyer John Bardo on behalf of DHS also said no “publicly available information, shows that Prince Harry was ever convicted for a drug-related offence”. Mr Bardo added that any suggestion from the Heritage Foundation of wrongdoing on behalf of the US government was “purely speculative”.
