Prince Harry's visa drugs case records to remain confidential as US court rules…
The Heritage Foundation's lawsuit regarding Prince Harry's visa status was focused on his admissions of drug use in his memoir, Spare.
A lawsuit brought by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation over Prince Harry's visa status has been “terminated”, per a Newsweek report.
Earlier this year, Judge Nichols requested to review Prince Harry’s visa records privately, and lawyers for President Joe Biden’s administration confirmed in April that they had complied with this request.
The case centred around the Duke of Sussex's admissions in his memoir, Spare, where he openly discussed his use of illegal substances such as cocaine, marijuana, and magic mushrooms. “Of course...I had been doing cocaine around this time. At someone's country house, during a shooting weekend, I'd been offered a line, and I'd done a few more since,” he wrote.
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Heritage Foundation seeks to expose Prince Harry's immigration status
Heritage argued that these admissions “this fact alone makes him inadmissible” to live and work in the United States. The organization filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), seeking to make Harry’s visa documents public.
Heritage’s lawyers wrote: “[The case] comes about in the main because HRH [His Royal Highness] voluntarily—and for immense profit—admitted in writing to the elements of any number of controlled substance violations. The Duke of Sussex did so despite the fact that it is widely known that such admissions can have adverse immigration consequences for non-citizens and despite employing preeminent legal advisors on both sides of the Atlantic.”
On the other hand, government attorneys maintained that disclosing Harry’s visa records would violate his privacy, arguing, “The records are particularly sensitive because releasing them, even in part, would reveal Prince Harry's status in the United States, which Prince Harry has not disclosed.” They also stressed that “the records would reveal the types of documents that Prince Harry used to travel to the United States, his admission status, and any immigration, or non-immigration, benefits that he may have sought” under FOIA rules.
When did Prince Harry's lawsuit get dismissed?
Court records reveal that the case was officially “terminated” on September 9, following several sealed orders issued by Judge Carl J. Nichols in Washington, D.C. However, the exact reasoning behind the case's dismissal, as well as whether Harry's visa documents will remain confidential, remains unclear.
Kyle Brosnan, chief counsel for The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, told Newsweek, “Prince Harry repeatedly admitted to using illegal drugs in his memoir. This fact alone makes him inadmissible into the United States.” He explained that the lawsuit was meant to answer whether Harry received “preferential treatment” when entering the country.
“It appears the judge has ruled, and that ruling is under seal. We know nothing about how the judge ruled. No one should read into the order, or the fact that it is under seal. We have always said this case is unique and opinions can be initially sealed in such cases. We will continue to monitor the situation.”