US refuses to release details of Prince Harry's visa application
after drug use revelations citing his 'right to privacy' despite his
life in the limelight and a six-part Netflix documentary with wife
Meghan Markle
The Department of Homeland Security for a second time turned down a Freedom of Information Act request to reveal details. The DHS rejected an initial request to release the info. The
feds said even though Harry is a 'public figure' it does not mean he
would 'forfeit all rights of privacy'
By Claudia Aoraha
Daily Mail
July 9, 2023
The US government has now refused to reveal details of Prince Harry's
American visa application due to his 'right to privacy'
The US government has refused to reveal details of Prince Harry's American visa application due to his 'right to privacy,' documents have revealed.
The Department of Homeland Security for a second time turned down a Freedom of Information Act request to reveal the material.
It was made by the Heritage Foundation think-tank to see if Harry lied in immigration paper-work about past drug-taking.
Harry admitted to consuming illegal substances in his memoir Spare and his Netflix show, a fact that usually bars US entry unless there is special dispensation.
The
DHS rejected an initial request. It said even though Harry was a
'public figure' that does not mean he would 'forfeit all rights of
privacy.'
This is the section of the visa application that Prince Harry would have had to fill in order to get into the United States
The royal couple- Harry and Meghan Markle, are pictured together in September 2017
Prince Harry declined to comment.
In
June, it was reported that Lawyers for the Heritage Foundation went to
court to try and force the Department of Homeland Security to speed up
its response to their Freedom of Information Act request about the Duke
of Sussex.
Judge Carl Nichols refused
to issue an injunction, urging the U.S. government to give an answer to
the conservative think-tank one way or the other.
Its
lead attorney Samuel Dewey shared a letter from DHS senior director
Jimmy Wolfrey in which he refused to confirm or deny that had the Duke's
papers on file.
In an angry statement posted online, the Heritage Foundation's Nile Gardiner hit out at the decision.
'This argument makes no sense, but is not surprising coming from the zero transparency Biden Administration,' Gardiner said.
'The Department of Homeland Security’s
efforts to stonewall the Heritage Foundation’s Freedom of Information
request are unacceptable, and we will be contesting their position,' the
former senior aide to ex-British PM Margaret Thatcher added.
In his book Spare, Harry admitted to previously taking marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms.
The
Duke and Duchess of Sussex have positioned themselves as public figures
in the U.S. since stepping back from the British Royal Family in 2020.
An admission of drug use does not automatically ban you from the United States.
Any
denial of entry can be overturned after an in-person interview at a US
consulate or official immigration office, where a waiver can be issued.
There is a history of authorities releasing immigration documents about public figures.
The
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website has an electronic
reading room which contains the files of some celebrities.
No comments:
Post a Comment