Prince Harry scores victory in fight over whether he admitted drug use on immigration papers
The Department of Homeland Security has offically denied a think tank’s request to release immigration documents for Prince Harry to find out whether he declared his drug use to officials before coming to live in the US.
Harry’s revelations of taking psychedelic mushrooms, cocaine and marijuana were detailed in his self-serving tome, “Spare,” published in January. Admissions of drug abuse can be a serious hurdle for non-Americans who want to be admitted to the country.
The US Department of Homeland Security notified the Heritage Project of its response Tuesday, citing privacy rules in rejecting the request in an emailed letter.
“To the extent records exist, this office does not find a public interest in disclosure sufficient to override the subject’s privacy interests,” DHS senior director Jimmy Wolfrey wrote in the letter obtained by The Post.
Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, said the DHS response “shows an appalling lack of transparency by the Biden Administration” and vowed the battle will continue in court.
“The Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to stonewall the Heritage Foundation’s Freedom of Information request are unacceptable, and we will be contesting their position,” Gardiner said.
“We expected to have to fight every step of this case in federal court and will continue to press for transparency and accountability for the American people.”
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group, wants to see how Harry answered questions in his application to obtain a visa to live in the US and how the DHS handled those answers before approving him to come into the country.
Harry’s visa status is unknown, but as the spouse of a US citizen, he would be entitled to apply for permanent residence, and with his fame and wealth, he would be eligible for many different types of visa.
The ousted 38-year-old royal and his family moved to the US in February 2020 are living in the quiet, star-studded town of Montecito, California, roughly 100 miles from Los Angeles.
The foundation also sought expedited processing for the records, and exemptions to privacy protections considering the “immense public interest” in Prince Harry.
Mike Howell, director of the Heritage foundation’s Oversight Project, submitted a Freedom Of Information Act request with DHS on March 8, 2023. The request sought records regarding the Duke of Sussex’s immigration application and related forms, as well “all records” from several DHS and Customs and Border Protection databases.
Portions of the request were referred to CHP, US Citizenship & Immigration Services and the Office of Biometric Identity Management — all three of which denied the requests.
The request has since descended into a legal battle between DHS and the Heritage Foundation, which sought a judge’s intervention.
Both sides met June 6 before District Judge Carl J. Nichols, who ruled DHS must decide on the request by June 13.
Nichols will be tasked with determining whether the duke’s immigrations records will be released.
After the June 6 hearing, Howell told reporters he is seeking the records because “the everyday American is absolutely sick and tired of globalist elites lecturing us, looking down on us, dominating our cultural institutions — and no one proves that point more than Prince Harry.”
“In a high profile case like this, when you are looking at someone like Prince Harry, the American people deserve to know if their immigration laws are being applied fairly. And I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that we have to use taxpayer money to defend against these Freedom of Information requests and take it all the way to federal court.”
