Joe Biden’s administration has rejected the claim that Prince Harry’s US visa records should be released because of “extraordinary” comments by the president’s ambassador to the UK.
It came after Ambassador Jane Hartley recently said Harry would not be deported from the United States while Biden is president.
The Heritage Foundation, a Washington DC-based think tank, is currently suing Biden’s Department of Homeland Security under the Freedom of Information Act over access to the royals’ immigration documents.
In a legal salvo earlier this month, he said Hartley’s comments undermined the Biden administration’s position that the documents should be kept secret and supported the case for revealing them.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Florida at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge 2024 to benefit Sentebale, April 12, 2024
The more than 100-page filing in Washington DC included a full transcript of what the think tank called Hartley’s “extraordinary” comments in an interview with Sky News on March 25.
However, in a new response filed with Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C., Department of Homeland Security lawyers refused to accept the argument.
They said Hartley had simply been giving his reaction to Donald Trump’s earlier comments that he might deport Harry if he becomes president again.
And they said that in doing so, the ambassador had not revealed any private information about the royals’ immigration status.
In the filing, U.S. government lawyers also rejected the idea that Hartley would have ruled out deporting Harry regardless of what happened in the future.
Lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security wrote: ‘The plaintiffs argue that Jane Hartley, the US ambassador to the Court of Saint James, revealed information about the duke’s immigration status during an interview with Sky News.
“But Hartley’s comment was simply a reaction to former President Donald Trump’s suggestion that, if elected to the presidency again, he would consider deporting the duke.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex kiss as they present their polo team with the trophy for winning the Royal Salute Polo Challenge 2024 to benefit Sentebale, Friday, April 12, 2024.
US ambassador Jane Hartley laughed at the suggestion that Harry could be deported, telling Sky News: “That won’t happen in the Biden administration.”
They continued: “Contrary to the plaintiffs’ claims, Hartley’s comments did not reveal any non-public information about the Duke’s status, and Hartley did not assert that the Duke would not be deported “regardless of future circumstances.”
“In any case, Hartley’s comment that the Duke would not be deported under the Biden Administration is consistent with the position that the Defendant has taken in this litigation, namely, that the Duke’s admission and residence in the United States does not suggest “no irregularities on the part of the government.”
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.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the Royal Salute Polo Challenge, benefiting Sentebale, at the USPA National Polo Center in Wellington, Florida, on April 12, 2024.
In a recent interview for GB News with Nigel Farage, Donald Trump said Harry should have “no special privileges.”
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.
In its filing, the Heritage Foundation said the Biden administration had always maintained that “none of the information we have can be released without acknowledging or knowing what Prince Harry’s immigration status is.”
‘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.”
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.
The think tank argued that undermined the Biden administration’s argument that the information should be kept secret.
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, “Well, that’s not going to happen in the Biden administration.”