Prince Harry has been urged to be “fully transparent” and divulge details of his US visa application or risk becoming a “political pawn” for his past drug use.
US immigration authorities have until April 12 to respond to a freedom of information (FoI) request filed by a leading US think tank seeking to determine how the duke was allowed to from Sussex entering the United States after openly admitting to the use of a variety of substances. in the past, including marijuana, cocaine, and magic mushrooms.
Under US law, anyone applying for a visa to live and work in the United States must check a box to answer “yes” or “no” to the question: “Are you or have you ever been a drug addict?” or addicted?”
In his controversial memoir Spare and in a ‘therapy session’ with toxic trauma expert Dr Gabor Mate to promote his book last month, Harry admitted to using psychedelic drugs.
They included the hallucinogenic Amazonian plant ayahuasca, the effect of which he described as ‘cleaning the windshield, removing the filters of life’.
Prince Harry has been urged to be ‘fully transparent’ and publish details of his US visa application.
But under US law, an admission of drug use typically results in a person being denied entry to the United States, as was the case with chef Nigella Lawson and the late singer Amy Winehouse.
The immigration issue is expected to become a major focus of the 2024 presidential election, with Republicans attacking President Joe Biden over his lax border controls. And there are fears that Harry’s friendships with prominent Democratic Party figures such as former President Barack Obama and top Democratic donors, including Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, could make him an “unwitting pawn in a highly political game.”
Last night, in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, lead lawyer Samuel Dewey of the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, who submitted a 127-page FoI request to see the duke’s application, said: “It is in the public interest.” find out how Prince Harry responded to the drug question.
‘If you have been honest and open about your drug use, and there is no reason to believe that you have not, it may well be that you checked the ‘yes’ box, in which case you would need a waiver to be granted a Visa for be admitted to the United States.
‘That means you would have had to be interviewed in person and someone would have had to give you a waiver. We are simply asking who granted that exemption.’
There is a history of authorities releasing immigration documents on public figures.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services website has an electronic reading room containing the immigration files of people like Shyamala Gopalan Harris, mother of US Vice President Kamala Harris, and George Michael and John Lennon.
Other celebrities whose archives are open to the public include Canadian Superman actress Margot Kidder and British actress Lynn Redgrave.
In his controversial memoir Spare and in a ‘therapy session’ with toxic trauma expert Dr Gabor Mate to promote his book last month, Harry admitted to using psychedelic drugs.
Mr Dewey added: ‘An admission of drug use does not automatically ban it forever.
‘There is a waiver process and a lot of people get a waiver on a case-by-case basis. If Prince Harry received a waiver, who authorized it? Was the correct protocol followed? It’s something the American people deserve to know.
Often, a ban is lifted after an in-person interview at a US consulate or official immigration office, where a waiver can be issued.
In 2014, Ms Lawson was barred from entering the US after admitting during a court case that she had used cocaine, despite telling a judge: “I have never been addicted to drugs.” I have never been a regular user. She was later granted a visa after being interviewed at the US Embassy in London, while Ms. Winehouse was denied entry twice due to her drug use.
Mr Dewey said: “There is no suggestion that Prince Harry did anything wrong and if he was granted a waiver, he may not be aware of any political threads that may have been pulled, if at all. was”. But there is a danger that he could become an unwitting pawn on an issue that has become a political hot potato.
Reports in the US suggested that Harry was admitted on an ‘O’ visa, given to people with extraordinary ability.
Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the Heritage Foundation, said: “This is a much bigger problem than Prince Harry. It is about enforcing immigration law and ensuring that no one is above the law. Prince Harry is just the tip of the iceberg.
‘There are many who believe that under President Biden the immigration laws have been relaxed and are not being properly implemented. Prince Harry has spoken openly about his drug use and has done so for commercial and financial gain, to sell books. In our opinion, there is no case for privacy here.
The MoS sought comment on Prince Harry’s immigration status from the US Department of Homeland Security, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection of the US, the California Border Patrol and the Archewell organization of the Sussexes. None responded.