Activists trying to force the disclosure of Prince Harry’s US visa records presented to a judge what they called “extraordinary” comments from Joe Biden’s ambassador to the UK.
Ambassador Jane Hartley recently said Harry would never be deported from the United States as long as Biden is president.
The Heritage Foundation, a Washington DC-based think tank, is currently suing Biden’s Department of Homeland Security over access to royals’ immigration documents.
He argued that the ambassador’s comments undermined the Biden administration’s attempt to keep the documents secret and supported the case for revealing them.
In a more than 100-page legal document in Washington DC, the think tank said Ambassador Hartley’s comments in a March 25 interview on Sky News were “extraordinary” and provided a transcript to Judge Carl Nichols.
Donald Trump said “action” could be taken against the Duke of Sussex if he is found to have lied about taking drugs on his US visa application.
It came as Judge Nichols is reviewing records related to Harry’s immigration status and deciding whether they should be made public.
“Ambassador Hartley’s remarks dramatically increase the already compelling public interest in disclosure,” the Heritage Foundation said in its filing.
He said the ambassador “selectively revealed” details while DHS “at the same time vigorously resisted any disclosure in this matter” and that that “should be considered” by the judge.
The Heritage Foundation wants Harry’s visa records released to see if he confirmed in his application that he had used drugs and if he received any special treatment from immigration authorities.
In his memoir Spare, which was published after moving to the United States in 2020, he admitted to previously using drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms.
U.S. visa applicants must disclose any history of drug use, which may affect their application.
Lying on an application can result in penalties up to and including deportation.
US ambassador Jane Hartley laughed at the suggestion that Harry could be deported, telling Sky News: “That won’t happen in the Biden administration.”
Last month, Donald Trump said that if Harry were found to have lied on his visa application about drug use, he would seek to take “appropriate action” if he were president again.
Trump refused to rule out Harry being deported from the United States.
When asked about Trump’s comments, Ambassador Hartley said that was “not going to happen in the Biden administration.”
In its filing, the Heritage Foundation said DHS had always maintained that “none of the information we have can be released without acknowledging what Prince Harry’s immigration status is or informing us what it is.”
Interviewed for GB News by Nigel Farage last Tuesday, Donald Trump said Harry should have “no special privileges”
He continued: ‘But on March 25, 2024, the Hon. Jane Hartley, the United States ambassador to the Court of Saint James, did just that.
“Hartley spoke directly not only about the current immigration status of the Duke of Sussex, but also about the future immigration status of His Royal Highness.”
The think tank argued that undermined DHS’s argument that the information should be kept secret.
It said: “Ambassador Hartley spoke directly about some of the information relating to the Duke of Sussex’s immigration status requested by the plaintiffs’ FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request; information that DHS has repeatedly told this court must stand confidential”.
In the presentation, Harry was referred to as ‘HRH Prince Henry Charles Albert David George, Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel KCVO (“HRH” or “Duke of Sussex”).
Harry has said he is considering becoming a US citizen.
Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, said: ‘The US ambassador’s arrogant comments in London about Prince Harry are an extraordinary intervention by a senior US diplomat in an ongoing court case. federal.
“The US ambassador’s comments clearly spoke directly not only to the current immigration status of the Duke of Sussex, but also to the future immigration status of Prince Harry.”
He added: ‘The Biden Administration has done everything it can to protect Prince Harry, and has even ruled out possible deportation of the Duke of Sussex if he lied on his US immigration application and violated US immigration law.
‘The Biden Administration has acted without transparency or accountability to the American people regarding the Heritage Foundation’s Freedom of Information request related to Prince Harry’s US immigration application. They should release Harry’s immigration records to the American people.
District Judge Carl Nichols, who is presiding over the case in Washington, D.C.
SPARE, the memoirs of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, were published globally on January 10, 2023.
Earlier this week, DHS handed over documents related to Harry’s visa to Judge Nichols.
The judge had ordered DHS to provide more information about why his immigration data should not be disclosed.
DHS said it complied with the order by filing ‘ex parte in camera statements with exhibits.’ [in private] review’ via an encrypted link.
U.S. immigration authorities routinely ask about drug use on visa applications.
In the past, British celebrities such as singer Amy Winehouse and model Kate Moss have had difficulties.
But acknowledging past drug use doesn’t necessarily result in automatic rejection.
DHS said from the beginning that it could not disclose Duke’s visa application, writing in a court filing: ‘Courts consistently hold that a person’s visa or immigration status is private, personal information exempt from disclosure.
“Specifically, the records would reveal the types of documents Prince Harry used to travel to the United States, his admission status, and any immigration or non-immigration benefits he may have sought.”
After a hearing in February, Judge Nichols told DHS that its arguments were “insufficiently detailed” for him to rule.