New pressure on US over Prince Harry visa
Ambassador’s claim Duke will not be deported among submissions by think tank seeking his file
PRESSURE on the US government to release the Duke of Sussex’s visa records has intensified after campaigners seized on comments made by the American ambassador to London that he would not be deported while Joe Biden was president.
The conservative Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington DC, which has gone to court to seek the release of the file, has submitted the remarks made by Jane Hartley as part of its case.
The group has been pushing the Department of Homeland Security to open the dossier on Prince Harry under America’s freedom of information laws.
After he admitted taking cocaine in his book Spare, he faced questions over how he had been able to move to the US, where admitting drug use can block a visa application. Asked about the current position regarding the possibility of the Prince being deported in an interview on Sky News on March 25, Ms Hartley replied “Well it’s not going to happen in the Biden administration.”
Her remarks were described as “extraordinary” by the Heritage Foundation. In its court filing, the Foundation maintained the Department of Homeland Security had said none of the information could be released “without acknowledging what Prince Harry’s immigration status is or tipping our hand as to what it is”.
However, the Foundation said Ms Hartley had spoken publicly about some of the information which it wanted to make public.
“Ambassador Hartley categorically stated that the Duke of Sussex will not be deported by the Biden Administration. Thus, the executive branch has now categorically stated that, regardless of future circumstances, they will decline to deport the Duke of Sussex – even in the most extreme of cases.”
Her remarks, it added, “dramatically enhance the already compelling public interest in disclosure.”
By speaking publicly. Ms Hartley had effectively repudiated the Biden administration’s case for refusing to release the information, it claimed.
So far the Biden administration has refused to make the Duke’s application public. The Department of Homeland Security said: “Courts consistently hold that a person’s visa or immigration status
‘The executive branch has categorically stated they will decline to deport the Duke ‘
‘It is extraordinary that she has chosen to comment on an ongoing court case’
is private, personal information exempt from disclosure.”
Judge Carl Nichols, who is presiding over the case in Washington DC, has yet to make a ruling.
In Spare, which was published after he moved to America in 2020, the Prince admitted he had taken drugs in the past, including marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms.
Under US law, anyone classed as a “drug abuser” is in danger of being deemed “inadmissible” to the United States. Celebrities including Nigella Lawson, have been banned from the US after admitting to taking drugs.
Although previous drug use does not automatically mean immigrants will be banned from the US, they are legally obliged to declare whether they have taken drugs on their visa application. Failure to do so can lead to deportation.
Prince Harry’s US residency has become a political issue with Donald Trump refusing to rule out deporting him if he became president.
Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, told The Telegraph that Ms Hartley’s remarks strengthened its case for the file to be made public.
“The US ambassador to London speaks directly on behalf of the president of the United States. It is extraordinary that she has chosen to comment on an ongoing federal court case.”
“This raises major questions as to why the Biden Administration is going to such great lengths to prevent the release of Prince Harry’s immigration records. They should release the records to the American people immediately.”
The Telegraph has approached the White House for comment.