An American think-tank called the Heritage Foundation has launched a lawsuit demanding that the U.S. government hand over files relating to Prince Harry’s visa application in light of his having confessed to drug taking, enough to block his entry by law.
The Heritage Foundation has launched a legal battle against the U.S. government after it refused to release files relating to Prince Harry’s application for an American visa.
Officials at the organization are reportedly looking for the files in order to confirm whether or not the UK Royal admitted to past illegal drug use while applying for permission to stay in the United States, with the country often rejecting visa applications from people with previous convictions for the possession, dealing or use of illicit substances.
With Prince Harry having now repeatedly admitted to using such controlled substances in a variety of locations — including his memoir Spare published earlier this year — the Heritage Foundation made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the royal’s visa application, seemingly curious about whether or not he admitted to such drug use while applying for the right to stay in the United States.
All visa applicants looking to gain access to the United States are reportedly asked on a form whether or not they have in the past used illegal drugs, with those that admit to doing so more often than not having their application refused.
However, such a request for the answers provided by Prince Harry on these forms has been reportedly rejected by the Department of Homeland Security, prompting the conservative organisation to sue the U.S. government for access to the files.
“The requested information is of immense public interest,” the Heritage Foundation complaint filed in the federal court in Washington D.C. arguing for the release of the files seen by Breitbart London reads.
“Widespread and continuous media coverage has surfaced the question of whether [the Department of Homeland Security] 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 both the United States and abroad,” it continued. “United States law generally renders such a person inadmissible for entry to the United States.”
The document goes on to say that there is now “intense media coverage” over whether the department “improperly granted the Duke of Sussex a waiver to enter the Country on a non-immigrant visa” considering his past drug use, as well as whether his visa should be reconsidered in light of this drug taking.
The filing makes reference to “many prominent examples” of celebrities with known drug habits trying to enter the United States in the past, including Happy Mondays musician Mark Berry who was refused a visa, Libertines Frontman Pete Doherty who was turned around at New York JFK and put on the next flight home, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson, and even John Lennon of the Beatles.
Since revelations about Prince Harry’s drug-taking leaked to the general public shortly before the publication of his memoir, questions have been raised over whether the senior royal should be permitted to stay in the United States, which has traditionally refused legal migrant status to those with a history of illegal substance use.
To make matters worse, not only did Harry admit to using illegal drugs in his home country, but he also reportedly admitted to using controlled substances while in the United States as well, at one point detailing in Spare his interactions with a talking toilet while doing magic mushrooms in California.
“He would have been asked [about drug abuse when applying for his visa],” Professor Alberto Benítez of George Washington University’s Immigration Clinic previously said regarding the situation. “If he was truthful in his answers, he should have been denied.”
One official from the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom, Nile Gardiner, has now called on the U.S. government to ensure American law is applied evenly in the wake of Prince Harry’s admissions.
“The Biden administration must assure the American people that the rule of law is applied equally with regard to immigration,” he reportedly said.