Prince Harry's US visa application papers have been handed over to a judge who will decide whether or not they should be made public

Prince Harry's US visa application papers have been handed over to a federal judge who will decide whether or not they should be made public. 

Judge Carl Nichols ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide more information about why his immigration details should be kept secret in March.

In a new court filing, seen by Newsweek, the DHS now said that it complied with the order 'by submitting declarations with attachments for ex parte in camera [in private] review' via an encrypted link.

The filing is the latest twist in the legal battle over the Duke of Sussex and his immigration status as the conservative Heritage Foundation is seeking the release of the documents to find out whether Harry lied about his drug use in his application.

The Duke of Sussex entered the U.S. in March 2020 lives with his American wife Meghan and their two children in Montecito, California. 

However, in his memoir 'Spare,' Harry admitted using cocaine, cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms. 

Harry admitted in Spare that he had taken cocaine several times starting around age 17, in order 'to feel. To be different.' 

U.S. immigration authorities routinely ask about drug use on visa applications. British celebrities including singer Amy Winehouse and model Kate Moss have run into difficulties.

But acknowledging past drug use does not necessarily result in automatic rejection.

Against that background, the Heritage Foundation filed a Freedom of Information request last year to get to the bottom of what happened.

Nile Gardiner, who is spearheading the request of the Heritage Foundation, said it was a matter of ensuring that no one got special treatment.

'Again, Harry has publicly admitted to extensive illegal drug use,' he wrote recently. 

'What do we submit this means? That Harry seems to have received special treatment: the DHS looked the other way if the Prince answered truthfully, or it looked the other way if the Prince lied on his visa application. 

'Either action would be wrong.' 

The DHS said from the beginning that it could not release the Duke's visa application, writing in a court filing: 'Courts consistently hold that a person's visa or immigration status is private, personal information exempt from disclosure.'

'Specifically,' it added, 'the records would reveal the types of documents that Prince Harry used to travel to the United States, his admission status, and any immigration, or non-immigration, benefits that he may have sought.' 

After a hearing in February, Judge Nichols told the DHS its arguments were 'insufficiently detailed' for him to make a ruling.

'Having reviewed the parties' written submissions and heard oral argument on the motions, the court concludes that in camera review is necessary to determine whether the records in dispute come within the scope of the claimed exemptions,' he wrote in an order.

And he gave the Biden administration until March 21 to submit 'declarations that detail, with particularity, the records it is withholding and the particular harm that would arise from public disclosure of them.'

 

After the judge made the order, the DHS had asked for an additional two weeks as 'searching for and reviewing the records' took 'longer than anticipated', according to a court filing. 

DHS lawyers also said at the time that other government agencies may need to review the documents before they can be handed over to the judge.

'Thus, having established good cause, defendant respectfully requests an additional fourteen days, up to and including April 4, 2024, to comply with the court's order,' they wrote.

In the February hearing, government lawyers argued that Harry's memoir proved nothing.

John Bardo, for the Department of Homeland Security, told the court: 'Just saying something in a book doesn't make it true.'

People put things in books sometimes just to sell more copies, he argued. 

Lawyers for Heritage also introduced a transcript of the GMA interview on February 16, 2024 'in which the Duke of Sussex discusses potentially seeking United States citizenship.'

They said it added to their case seeking the release of his immigration files.

In a court filing Heritage said: 'Widespread and continuous media coverage has surfaced the question of whether DHS properly admitted the Duke of Sussex in light of the fact that he has publicly admitted to the essential elements of a number of drug offenses.'