Prince Harry's immigration records made public amid court battle
The United States Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday released documents showing that Prince Harry did not receive favorable treatment in the process of obtaining his U.S. visa.
A DHS official said in the heavily redacted immigration court documents that his immigration process received no favorable treatment.
"This speculation by Plaintiffs does not point to any evidence of government misconduct," the agency stated in one of the documents. "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, 8 U.S.C. § 1103 and applicable rules and regulations."
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The documents were released after the Heritage Foundation -- a conservative think tank -- filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Harry's immigration documents in 2023, followed by a lawsuit calling for DHS to expedite the process because of of the public interest in the case and media coverage of the prince's admitted drug use when he was younger.
U.S. visa applications ask about current and past drug use, and admissions of drug use can lead to denial, based on different factors.
The Heritage Foundation has said previously in court filings that the drug use "surfaced the question" about whether Harry received favorable treatment in being granted entry to the U.S. and whether Harry disclosed his past in his visa application, as required.
A Washington, D.C., district court judge ruled on March 7 that Harry's U.S. immigration files be released by the end of day Tuesday.
However, DHS redacted the full immigration record, including his status in the United States.
"To release his exact status could subject him to reasonably foreseeable harm in the form of harassment as well as unwanted contact by the media and others," the court filing says. "The Duke of Sussex has not consented to disclosure of his records to Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs have not proven sufficient public interest to outweigh the Duke's right to privacy concerning any other potential CBP records about him that may or may not exist."
ABC News has reached out to the Heritage Foundation for comment on the redacted documents' release and has not yet heard back.
A representative for Harry has also not yet replied to ABC News' request for comment.
Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, moved to the United States in 2020 after stepping away from their senior roles in Britain's royal family.
Harry, the youngest son of King Charles III, and Meghan now live in Montecito, California, with their two children, Archie and Lilibet.
Last April, Harry named the U.S. as his official residence in documents filed with Companies House, a government-run registry of companies in the United Kingdom.
The filing lists the date of Harry's residency change as June 29, 2023, the date that Buckingham Palace confirmed Harry and Meghan had officially moved out of Frogmore Cottage, their former home in Windsor.
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Harry told ABC News' Will Reeve last year that he has considered getting his American citizenship.
"The American citizenship is a thought that has crossed my mind, but certainly is not something that is a high priority for me right now," he told Reeve in an interview that aired Feb. 16, 2024.
When asked what would stop him from doing so, Harry replied, "I have no idea."
In February, amid the Heritage Foundation's lawsuit, President Donald Trump told the New York Post he has no plans to deport Harry, saying, "I don't want to do that."
'I'll leave him alone. He's got enough problems with his wife. She's terrible," Trump said, referring to Meghan, who reportedly called Trump "divisive' and 'misogynistic' during the 2016 presidential election, two years before she wed Harry.
Prince Harry's immigration records made public amid court battle originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com
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