US govt allegedly 'stonewalling' legal bid related to Prince Harry's visa application

The Washington-based think-tank has accused the Joe Biden administration of “stonewalling” a legal bid related to UK's Prince Harry, reported the UK based The Telegraph. The think tank has been pursuing the case to uncover details of Prince Harry’s US visa application using Freedom of Information laws. According to the UK media reports, a request that has been made to fast-track the application on the grounds of exceptional public interest has been turned down. The Washington think tank has described it as an “outrageous” decision.

This comes after Prince Harry moved to California in 2020 with his wife Meghan Markle. As per the visa norms in the US, people who emigrate to the US are usually given a three-year visa, meaning the couple would have to renew their visa this year or apply for a Green Card or citizenship. Further, the think tank named, right-wing Heritage Foundation, has now urged the judge to overturn the decision by the Department of Homeland Security and two of its agencies as the hearing has been expected next month.  

Prince Harry, Drugs and US visa: A tale to tell

In March, the Foundation demanded the immediate release of the Duke of Sussex’s visa records. This comes just after he admitted to drug-taking in his book, Spare. The think tank organisation has argued that the Duke’s records should be made public because admissions of drug use are grounds for inadmissibility in visa applications. Under US law, an admission of drug use normally results in a person being denied entry to the States, as happened in the case of chef Nigella Lawson and the late singer Amy Winehouse, as per the Daily Mail. In his book, which has raised a series of controversies, Prince Harry has confessed to taking drugs including cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms.

Close aids to Prince Harry have stressed that he has been truthful about his drug use on his visa application, which raises questions about whether the Duke was given special treatment, argued the think tank. Further, they have asked if he has been given a waiver by border officials. In the US Freedom of Information laws, applications can be fast-tracked if there is “widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government’s integrity which affect public confidence”. 

While talking about Prince Harry's visa case, the director of the Margaret Thatcher Centre for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, Nile Gardiner said, "The Biden administration is clearly stonewalling here and they are trying to avoid releasing any documents." Further, she added, "They are trying to do so by undermining the credibility of the British Press, which is outrageous, and by concentrating their fire on the British Press even though we have submitted articles in the US press about the same subject."  

The think tank has submitted Freedom of Information requests for the Duke’s visa application records to the Department of Homeland Security, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and US Customs and Border Protection. They would also be applying for a hearing in front of a judge at the US District Court for the District of Columbia, at which they would urge the judge to overrule the three agencies, reported The Telegraph.

Meanwhile, the attorney representing the think tank, Samuel Dewey said, “The way it works here is that if you are asking for anything that is potentially significant you’re not going to get it unless you sue them." Further, as per The Telegraph, he added, "You can have a request that sits there for a year with pretty much nothing happening. This is an example of this administration’s unprecedented lack of transparency."