Campaigners calling for Prince Harry’s US visa to be published submit ‘extraordinary’ comments by Joe Biden’s UK ambassador to judge in new bid to publicize his immigration status
Campaigners trying to force the release of Prince Harry’s US visa records have taken to a judge what they called “extraordinary” comments made by Joe Biden’s ambassador to the UK
Ambassador Jane Hartley recently said that Harry would never 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 to gain access to the royal’s immigration papers.
It argued that the ambassador’s remarks undermined the Biden administration’s attempts to keep the documents secret and supported the suit to reveal them.
In a more than 100-page legal filing in Washington DC, the think tank said Ambassador Hartley’s remarks 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 reviews records regarding Harry’s immigration status and decides whether to make them public.
“Ambassador Hartley’s statements dramatically increase the already compelling public interest in disclosure,” the Heritage Foundation said in its filing.
It said the ambassador “selectively disclosed” details while DHS “at the same time strongly opposed any disclosure in this case” and that “should be considered” by the judge.
The Heritage Foundation wants Harry’s visa records released to see if he admitted on his application that he had used drugs and if he was given any special treatment by immigration officials.
In his memoir Spare, published after he moved to America in 2020, he admitted to using drugs in the past, including marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms.
US visa applicants are required to disclose any history of drug use that may affect their application.
Lying on an application can result in fines, including deportation.
US ambassador Jane Hartley laughed off the suggestion that Harry could be deported, telling Sky News: ‘It’s not going to happen in the Biden administration’
Last month, Donald Trump said that if Harry was found to have lied on his visa application about drug use, he would seek to take “appropriate action” if he becomes president again.
Trump refused to rule out Harry being deported from the US.
Asked about Trump’s comments, Ambassador Hartley said it ‘wouldn’t 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 tipping our hand as to what it is.”
Interviewed for GB News by Nigel Farage last Tuesday, Donald Trump said Harry should not be given ‘special privileges’
It continued: ‘But on 25 March 2024 the hon. Jane Hartley, the US Ambassador to the Court of Saint James’s did just that.
“Hartley addressed not only directly the current immigration status of the Duke of Sussex, but also HRH’s future immigration status.”
The think tank argued that it undermined DHS’s argument that the information should be kept secret.
It said: ‘Ambassador Hartley spoke directly to some of the information about the Duke of Sussex’s immigration status requested by the plaintiffs’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request – information that DHS has repeatedly told this court must be kept confidential .’
In the filing, Harry was referred to as ‘HRH Prince Henry Charles Albert David George, Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel KCVO’s (“HRH” or “Duke of Sussex”).’
Harry has said he is considering becoming an American citizen
Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, said: ‘The US ambassador to London’s arrogant remarks about Prince Harry are an extraordinary intervention by a senior US diplomat in an ongoing federal trial.
“The US ambassador’s remarks clearly spoke directly not only to the Duke of Sussex’s current immigration status, but also to Prince Harry’s future immigration status.”
He added: ‘The Biden administration has gone to great lengths 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 and 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 DC
SPARE, the memoir of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, was released globally on January 10, 2023
Earlier this week, DHS submitted documents regarding Harry’s visa to Judge Nichols.
The judge had ordered DHS to provide more information about why his immigration information should not be released.
DHS said it complied with the order by submitting “statements with attachments for ex parte in camera review” via an encrypted link.
US immigration officials routinely ask about drug use in visa applications.
In the past, British celebrities including singer Amy Winehouse and model Kate Moss have run into trouble.
However, acknowledging past drug use does not necessarily result in automatic rejection.
DHS said from the outset that it could not release the Duke’s visa application, writing in a lawsuit: “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 make a ruling.