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PRINCE Harry’ s visa files are to be made public in just days after claims he shouldn’t have been allowed into the Unites States, a court ruled.
A judge has ordered documents relating to the Duke of Sussex’s US visa application to be released on Tuesday.
Harry’s visa files are set to be made public next week[/caption]
President Donald Trump said in February he would not deport the Duke[/caption]
A judge ruled the redacted documents must be revealed by Tuesday[/caption]
It comes after an ongoing Freedom of Information request made by the Heritage Foundation.
Judge Carl Nichols made the ruling that Harry’s redacted docs will now have to be made public, according to court papers filed on Saturday.
The dad-of-two’s visa battle was sparked after he candidly wrote about taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms, in his tell-all book Spare.
In his bombshell memoir, Harry admitted cocaine “didn’t do anything for me”, but “Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me”.
It triggered an investigation into how he was allowed to enter the US in 2020, when he quit the UK with wife Meghan Markle.
Heritage’s Nile Gardiner previously told the Telegraph: “Anyone who applies to the United States has to be truthful on their application, and it is not clear that is the case with Prince Harry.”
This comes after Judge Carl Nichols previously ruled in September last year the files would remain private.
He stated there was not a strong enough public interest to see Harry’s docs released.
But the latest development was pushed by lawyers for the Department of Homeland Security in February.
They argued “iron-glad guardrails” were broken and certain evidence should have been reviewed in court, which were not, which meant their ability to build a case against Harry’s appeal were “severely compromised”.
Lawyer John Bardo wrote in court papers: “Specifically, Defendant would propose redacting all information in these items that would reveal information that the Court has determined Defendant can withhold.”
The Heritage Foundation alleged the Duke may have lied about past drug use on his forms, that would have banned him from US visa eligibility.
But, after President Donald Trump came into power he announced Harry would not be deported.
He made a dig towards Meghan and told The New York Post: “I’ll leave him alone.
“He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
Meghan has not hid her aversion for Trump in the past, having dubbed him “divisive” and “misogynistic”.
The president also called Harry “whipped,” and believes the Prince is “being led around by the nose”.
Yet Trump said in a GB News interview with Nigel Farage in March last year that Harry should not receive preferential treatment.
Asked if the duke should have “special privileges” if he is found to have lied in his application, the president said: “No. We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action.”
He also previously vowed, before he was elected, that “Harry is on his own” if he became president again.
Publication of the documents could lead to embarrassing revelations for the Duke.
A spokesperson for the Sussexes has been contacted for comment.
Harry's visa row
By Ethan Singh
IN September a judge ruled Harry’s visa documents would NOT be made public despite his admission that he took drugs.
Harry’s reference to taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms in his book Spare prompted a conservative Washington, DC think tank to question why he was allowed into the US in 2020.
However, in a major boost for the Duke of Sussex, Judge Carl Nichols said Harry had a “reasonable privacy interest” in relation to his US immigration paperwork and therefore it should stay private.
The judge did, however, agree Harry had revealed “intimate details” of his life in his memoir – which included a description of his private parts freezing.
And Harry’s privacy interests were somewhat diminished by him being a public figure, the judge said.
The decision comes after Judge Nichols spent five months reviewing Harry’s immigration file as part of a case brought by the Heritage Foundation.
The organisation sued the Department of Homeland Security after it refused a Freedom of Information request to see immigration files on Harry — now a US resident.
Heritage claims Harry may have lied on the forms under the section which asks if you have been a drug user.
Now, in his ruling seen in court documents today, Judge Nichols said “the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke’s immigration records”.
His judgement added: “Like any foreign national, the duke has a legitimate privacy interest in his immigration status.
“And the duke’s public statements about his travel and drug use did not disclose, and therefore did not eliminate his interest in keeping private, specific information regarding his immigration status, applications, or other materials.”
At the court in Washington, D.C., Judge Nichols noted that Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’ sold more than 1.4 million copies on its first day on sale and became a New York Times bestseller.
Judge Nichols said that the book “shares intimate details of his life” including “numerous instances” where Harry took drugs.
In the view of the judge, Harry had a “reasonable privacy interest in his immigration records”.
Judge Nichols said Heritage is “partially correct that as a public figure, the Duke’s public statements tend to diminish his privacy interests compared to ordinary foreign nationals admitted to the United States“.
The opinion states: “But it (Heritage) goes too far in arguing that the privacy interest is so diminished by his public statements as to be de minimis (Latin for very small).”
Judge Nicholas added the Duke’s public statements about his drug use did not eliminate his interest in keeping private information about his immigration status.
Heritage’s argument that revealing Harry’s paperwork would shed light on the workings of DHS “fails”, the ruling states.
“For the reasons discussed, the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the Duke’s immigration records”, the order states
The judge said some documents submitted to him by DHS were “of particular relevance” but the sentence was followed by a large paragraph that is redacted.
Another large section of ‘particularly relevant’ information was also redacted.
DHS has handed over Harry’s immigration paperwork in April for Judge Nichols to review.
He wanted to see the ‘particular harm’ that would arise from the material being made public.
Judge Nichols told Homeland Security its arguments so far, including during a hearing in February, were ‘insufficiently detailed’ for him to decide.
