US Judge considering release of Prince Harry's visa application documents
During a hearing, Judge Carl Nichols reviewed Prince Harry's sealed visa application documents, seeking a balance between transparency and privacy.
During a hearing on Wednesday, the US judge evaluated the potential for releasing parts of Prince Harry's visa application documents. Judge Carl Nichols reviewed the sealed documents and expressed an interest in allowing “maximum disclosure as long as it doesn't violate privacy,” per Mirror.
Nichols stated, “I'm not foreclosing the possibility that there might be some possible relief.” He requested that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) propose redactions or “continued withholdings” to balance transparency and privacy concerns.
“There’s a point where redactions would leave just a name or a date,” Nichols said.
The judge admitted he was “not 100 per cent sure how I want to proceed” and assured the parties he would notify them “in due course,” as reported by the Daily Mail.
Prince Harry faces deportation threat over drug history
The legal battle was initiated by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, which filed a lawsuit after its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for Harry’s immigration documents was denied.
“We are pushing for the Trump administration to release the records, and we have urged President Trump to release the records. We hope that with a new president, there will be full transparency,” Nile Gardiner, a spokesperson for the organization, stated outside the courthouse.
Heritage claims that the Duke had either gained administrative favour from the Biden administration or deceived the visa application process about his drug history. Harry’s memoir Spare sparked controversy after he noted using cocaine and marijuana along with psychedelic mushrooms. US visa application procedures ask all applicants to report their drug history leading to possible delays and denial of their visa requests.
Heritage’s attorney, Samuel Dewey, told reporters outside the court, “If he lied, that gets you deported. People are routinely deported for lying on immigration forms.”
However, DHS has defended its decision to keep the records sealed, arguing that “much like health, financial, or employment information, a person’s immigration information is private personal information.”
