Prince Harry has been warned that he could still yet be deported from the US as his visa row continues.
The Duke of Sussex admitted to previous drug use in his memoir Spare, published in January 2023, which sparked a row with the Heritage Foundation – a conservative Washington DC think tank – that demanded the US government releases Harry’s immigration records. Under US law, while not constituting an automatic ban, drug use can be grounds to reject a visa application.
But last September, US judge Carl Nichols ruled that the duke’s visa application should not be made public, saying that “the public does not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke’s immigration records”. Now, after a hearing earlier this week when Judge Nichols said he wanted to see the “maximum disclosure as long as it doesn’t violate privacy” in the Duke’s case, the think tank’s Nile Gardiner has told the Telegraph that newly elected President Donad Trump could open up the visa row again.
He said: “We have a new US administration in place that is focused on the enforcement of immigration law, so we are urging full transparency. Anyone who applies to the United States has to be truthful on their application, and it is not clear that is the case with Prince Harry. He has openly admitted to widespread and extensive drug use. What he put on his application should match exactly what he put in the book [Spare]. No one should receive preferential treatment. No one is above the law.”
Meanwhile, John Bardo, a lawyer for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) argue last year in court that Harry’s memoir “isn’t sworn testimony or proof”, while the outlet suggested that much could also depend on the type of visa the duke is on, which is unknown.
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