Right-wing think tank files lawsuit demanding Prince Harry’s immigration records

A right-wing think tank with close ties to former President Donald Trump wants a federal court to order the release of Prince Harry’s immigration records because they believe his past admissions of drug use make him ineligible to enter the United States.

The Heritage Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday, just over a month after the group made a Freedom of Information Act request. Information for information on how the Duke of Sussex was admitted to the United States when he and his wife, former American actress Meghan Markle, moved there after leaving the UK in 2020.

Although immigration records are generally exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act due to strict privacy laws governing the handling of personal information, the pro-Trump group argues that Harry, whose full legal name is Henry Charles Albert David George Mountbatten-Windsor, should not receive the same protections due to the “immense public interest” in his current state.

At stake for the right-wing think tank are the Duke’s past admissions of drug use, which in many circumstances would make him inadmissible in the US. In his best-selling memoir, Replacement, Harry describes his drug use in detail, including an experience with hallucinogenic mushrooms.

He writes that he first took cocaine at the age of 17 and used it sparingly ever since, but has said that his use of marijuana and mushrooms helped him deal with past traumas.

“Widespread and continuing media coverage has raised the question of whether DHS correctly 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 the United States. foreign… Intense Media coverage has also raised the question of whether DHS may have improperly granted the Duke of Sussex a waiver to enter the country on a nonimmigrant visa given his history of admissions to the essential elements of the drug crimes,” the group said in its lawsuit. .

The Heritage Foundation added that the “media coverage” of his earlier freedom of information request has allegedly “brought to light the question of whether the DHS decision to admit the Duke of Sussex to the United States should be reconsidered in light of the Latest Admissions from the Duke of Sussex”. to the essential elements of numerous drug offences.”

The group frames its demand for information as part of an effort to shed light on whether the Biden administration is properly enforcing US immigration law.

It is unclear what type of visa Harry obtained before he and his wife moved to California in 2020. He is believed to have a spousal visa linked to his wife, who is a US citizen by birth, or a visa known as an O-visa. 1. , which is usually awarded to individuals who possess “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics” or a record of extraordinary achievement in film or television.