Prince Harry’s visa issue has reportedly hit a new roadblock. The U.S. State Department has kept 18 documents private, which are connected to the Duke of Sussex. Not only that, as per court documents, the department will continue reviewing more documents in relation to the Freedom of Information Act case related to his visa and past drug use.
State Department officials withheld the first batch while hundreds of Prince Harry records remain under review, claims report
Prince Harry’s visa fight with authorities has reportedly taken a new turn. According to Newsweek, the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation originally took the Department of Homeland Security to court. They wanted Harry’s visa records to be made public. The Heritage Foundation has stated that Americans have a right to know whether Harry was honest about his past substance use when applying for his visa or not.
The Heritage Foundation lost the case because Judge Carl Nichols declared that Harry’s right to privacy was more important than the public’s interest in his records. Following that, lawyers filed a new case against the State Department last year. They asked them to release all other documents about the Duke of Sussex, excluding the actual visa records.
For those unversed, the Foundation initially argued that Harry’s past substance abuse should have barred him from entering the U.S. Furthermore, Heritage raised doubts over Harry’s truthfulness and credibility regarding his past substance abuse in the immigration forms.
Heritage suggested that concealing important bits of information could put the Duke of Sussex’s visa status in doubt. However, immigration experts explained to Newsweek that such a situation would be highly unusual, as Harry does not have a criminal record related to substance abuse.
Hence, Heritage’s latest FOIA request is unlikely to reveal Harry’s private immigration information, as officials deem the records ineligible for release. However, that does not protect all his information. The government is likely to release additional documents, which could reveal how officials actually handled Prince Harry’s case.
