Claims that Prince Harry received special treatment when he emigrated to the United States are false, the Trump administration said Tuesday.
A lawyer from the Department of Homeland Security said that Harry’s application followed all the ‘applicable rules and regulations’.
The statement was made in heavily redacted documents that were made public on Tuesday after a lawsuit by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, which was seeking to prove that Harry lied about his drug use on his visa papers.
But despite a judge vowing to release as much material as possible, Harry’s actual immigration file has remained private.
The six documents that were released contain page after page of blocked out type, meant to protect Harry’s privacy and stop him being subjected to ‘harassment’.
The partial release of the material will be met with relief by Harry as it appears to be the end of a case which began last year when Heritage sued DHS – and led to speculation the Duke might be deported by Donald Trump.
DHS had refused a Freedom of Information request from Heritage for Harry’s visa files on the grounds that he may have lied about whether or not he was a drug user.
In his memoir, ‘Spare’, and his Netflix TV series Harry talked about using cannabis, cocaine and magic mushrooms.
Had he mentioned that on his immigration forms when he moved to the US in 2020, the prince could have been denied entry or faced further questioning.
The released documents include a declaration from Jarrod Panter, chief FOIA officer at DHS, who said that the agency determined it was not possible to release ‘any portion’ of Harry’s records as anyone with a familiarity with immigration law could easily determine Harry’s status.
The Duke, 40, has not publicly revealed his status in the US after immigrating in 2020 with his wife Meghan Markle, 43, with whom he has two children.
Panter wrote that US immigration ‘routinely protects from disclosure the nonimmigrant/immigrant status sought by third parties who do not have permission from the beneficiary to receive this information’.
He said: ‘To release such information would potentially expose the individual to harm from members of the public who might have a reason to manipulate or harass individuals depending on their status in the United States’.
Making such information public could subject Harry to ‘reasonably foreseeable harm in the form of harassment as well as unwanted contact by the media and others’.
Panter rejected the idea that Harry had been given ‘preferential treatment’.
He wrote: ‘This speculation by (Heritage) does not point to any evidence of government misconduct.
‘The records, as explained above, do not support such an allegation but show the regulatory process involved in reviewing and granting immigration benefits which was done in compliance with the Immigration and Nationality Act and applicable rules and regulation’.
Panter’s declaration contains a seven page long list of documents that were identified in the case – but all of them are redacted.
Four of the other documents are declarations from records officers at DHS and they have heavy redactions too.
The sixth document is a partial transcript of an in camera hearing from April 30th 2024 in which both sides discuss the case.
There is a fleeting reference to the musician Sting and one person – it is not clear who – says: ‘…In whether Prince Harry or Sting or anyone else you can think of who is prominent has a particular visa status’.
The files were released after a u-turn by Judge Carl Nichols, who sits in Washington and is overseeing the case.
In September, Judge Nichols had refused the request from Heritage to release all the documents because the Duke had a right to privacy.
But after a hearing he reconsidered and said he wanted to reveal the ‘maximum amount’ that he could.
DHS has previously argued that the records at issue are ‘particularly sensitive’ because they would ‘reveal Harry’s (immigration) status in the United States’.
Releasing them would amount to a ‘fishing expedition’, DHS argued.
The case has led to speculation that Donald Trump might kick Harry out of the country as the President said last year he ‘wouldn’t protect him’.
But last month Trump changed his tune and said he wouldn’t deport Harry – because his wife is ‘terrible’.
Speaking to the New York Post, the President said he was giving Harry a break because ‘he’s got enough problems with his wife’.
Harry’s representatives have declined to comment on the case.
