A federal judge has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to submit documents related to Prince Harry's visa to the court for review after the department refused to release them to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, under the Freedom of Information Act.
The Heritage Foundation sued the department, saying it has the right to view the documents as part of a search to determine whether Prince Harry was illegally allowed to reside in the United States given his confessions in his 2023 memoirs and elsewhere that he had used cocaine and other drugs.
The foundation had sought the documents specifically to investigate how the prince had been admitted, because some visas with which he could have entered the United States require applicants to answer questions about past drug use and violations of drug-related law.
Judge Carl J. Nichols of the U.S. District Court in Washington ordered the department to submit the documents in question for his confidential review to determine whether they should be released in any form.
The possibility that the prince concealed his drug use when applying for a visa could have immigration consequences, and any exemptions he might have been granted would generally have been precluded by the nature of the drug use. he described in public interviews and in his memoirs.
“Extensive and continuing media coverage has raised questions about whether DHS properly admitted the Duke of Sussex, in light of the fact that he has publicly admitted to the essential elements of a number of drug offenses in the United States and abroad,” the foundation said. » the lawyers wrote in their initial complaint.
The complaint cites numerous other cases in which celebrities and public figures such as soccer star Diego Maradona and singer Amy Winehouse encountered immigration problems or were denied entry due to drug use. drug reported.
The dispute began in May after the ministry returned the Heritage Foundation's request as “too broad in scope.” He did not immediately reject the request, but ordered the think tank to resubmit and identify more specific documents for review.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, had been live in California some time before the publication of his memoirs, and he expressed interest by becoming an American citizen.