British-born Prince Harry just can’t get a break when it comes to his U.S. visa application. Just when he thought he can finally sleep peacefully at night knowing he can continue with his royal service on American soil, The Heritage Foundation is at it again petitioning for his case to be reopened — and the conservative think tank might just have Donald Trump to back them up.
The Duke of Sussex is to blame for the organization questioning how he got a pass to the country after he shared in his memoir Spare that he took marijuana, magic mushrooms, and cocaine during his wild partying days. The group is suspecting that he lied about it and was given preferential treatment by current U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration, given that drug use is a deal breaker in getting a U.S. visa.
The Heritage Foundation has gone to court asking for the royal’s visa records to be made public. But Judge Carl C. Nichols ultimately denied their request and terminated the case in September. A memorandum of the judge’s decision was made public, albeit with several redacted passages.
However, the group has now filed a petition to “vacate” the ruling on the basis that it wasn’t granted access to private correspondence between Judge Nichols and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Lawyers for The Heritage Foundation stated in a filing obtained by Newsweek: “This Court should vacate its opinion and order, enter all ex parte correspondence on the docket, unseal ex parte correspondence consistent with the Opinion,” adding that the secrecy around the case “severely compromises [Heritage’s] ability to prepare arguments on appeal.”
The legal team believes there was “ample evidence of agency bad faith” and that they are “not blind to the fact that they have brought a unique case that is fraught with these complexities.” The filing added: [Heritage lawyers] simply submit that the way forward taken by the Court does not comport with our adversarial system.”
Now, with Trump reported to be leading the polls in the upcoming presidential elections, then The Heritage Foundation may have just found its best ally. The former American president has made it clear that he is not a fan of Prince Harry. Back in February during an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington D.C., Trump said he was furious at the Biden administration for “protecting Harry” and that if it was up to him, he “wouldn’t protect him” and that the duke “would be on his own.”
Then in March, he said that if re-elected as president he would “take appropriate action” if found that the Duke of Sussex lied about his past drug use in his visa application. When asked by Nigel Farage if the royal would receive “special privileges” he responded: “No. We’ll have to see if they know something about the drugs, and if he lied they’ll have to take appropriate action.”
When prodded if it means Prince Harry “not staying in America” Trump replied: “Oh I don’t know. You’ll have to tell me. You just have to tell me. You would have thought they would have known this a long time ago.”
Mike Howell, executive director of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, had this to say about Trump’s possible involvement in their case: “President Trump has already suggested that Prince Harry will be deported next year and the case for that just got a lot more compelling. Americans deserve an immigration system with both secure borders and also fairly applied rules for high-profile immigrants like Harry.”
