Prince Harry won a major victory on Monday: his US visa documents will not be made public, Judge Carl Nichols ruled. The decision comes after a lengthy process that began when the Duke of Sussex admitted to drug use in his memoirs titled In the shadowpublished in early 2023. Following this revelation, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative American organization based in Washington, asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to know whether the prince admitted to having used drugs in his application for an American visa. After the agency, which oversees immigration and visas, refused to publicly disclose the data in Harry’s documents, the foundation sued the DHS. And after five months of Judge Nichols reviewing the prince’s immigration file, he issued a ruling in favor of Harry’s privacy.
In the United States, immigration laws classify any foreigner who has consumed drugs as inadmissible to the country. Therefore, if the Duke of Sussex admitted to drug use on his visa, this constituted preferential treatment for the youngest son of King Charles III; and if, on the contrary, he lied about his use when applying for it, he could be denied US citizenship and deported.
Judge Nichols has noted that while his memoirs—which sold more than 1.4 million copies on their first day of release and became a best-seller of the New York Times— and in his Netflix documentary, Harry and Meghanthe prince shares intimate details of his life, including numerous instances in which he admits to having used drugs, that does not eliminate his interest in keeping information about his immigration status private. This ruling prevents Harry from having to make future public revelations about his personal life.
Nichols has spent five months reviewing Prince Harry’s immigration file and has admitted that the Heritage Foundation had grounds for requesting the release of the documents. “As a public figure, the duke’s public statements tend to diminish his privacy interests compared to ordinary foreign citizens admitted to the United States,” she said. However, she ruled that the documents will not be made public. In the judge’s opinion, the foundation “goes too far in arguing that the interest in privacy is diminished by his public statements” and that Harry had a “reasonable interest in the privacy of his immigration records.”
🚨BREAKING: We’re suffering @DHSGov for Prince Harry’s immigration records.
Did the Prince receive preferential treatment from the US government? (🧵1/5) pic.twitter.com/z3cnSEmwOw
— Oversight Project (@OversightPR) May 1, 2023
During the hearing in February this year, the lawyer acting on behalf of the Heritage Foundation, Samuel Dewey, claimed that his clients had nothing against Prince Harry and only wanted to know if he had received preferential treatment. Legal documents filed by the foundation claim that Harry had been so brazen that he “went so far as to boast and encourage illegal drug use,” according to statements collected by the Foundation. Daily Mail. Meanwhile, a DHS lawyer claimed that the Duke of Sussex’s revelations about his drug use could have been exaggerated and even fabricated to boost drug sales. In the shadow. In addition, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bardo told the court in Washington: “The book is not sworn testimony or evidence. Saying something in a book doesn’t necessarily make it true.”
In his book In the shadowPrince Harry admits to using cocaine as a teenager, smoking weed and trying hallucinogenic mushrooms at the actress’s home Friends Courteney Cox —a statement that the actress denied last year in an interview with the magazine Variety—. The youngest son of King Charles III of England admitted in March 2023, in an interview broadcast on streaming with Canadian doctor and writer Gabor Maté, whose relationship with marijuana became his salvation at a difficult time in his life: “I started using it recreationally and then I realised how good it was for me.” His memoirs and public statements about drug use caused a stir in the United Kingdom and raised hackles among anti-drug activists.
Sources close to the prince stated last year to The Telegraph The report also said the duke had been candid in his visa application, suggesting that he had indeed made reference to his past drug use. This fuels rumours that the prince, because of his position, was given preferential treatment. British conservative commentator Nile Gardiner lashed out at Prince Harry when his drug use became public: “The drug issue is a big issue. Visa applicants in the US have to say whether they have taken drugs. If they say yes, they have to fill out a detailed report,” he said in an article in the Daily Beast. The Times. “For him to be able to get in, there must have been some high-level intervention that we are not aware of. What we are asking is whether he was open and transparent in his request or whether he was given preferential treatment. Was he treated differently than everyone else? he mused.
Prince Harry is currently in New York, where he is expected to attend the General Assembly and UN Climate Week, which brings together world leaders to promote their patronage and philanthropic activities. On September 24, the Earthshot Prize summit, an initiative by his brother, Prince William, to combat climate change, is being held. It has not been confirmed whether the heir to the British throne will be present at the event, nor whether the Duke of Sussex will attend.
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