By Rebekah Riess and Holmes Lybrand | CNN
Prince Harry’s immigration records are expected to be made public by end of day Tuesday, after a US District Court judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to do so last week.
The anticipated records release comes after the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, filed a lawsuit to obtain the Duke of Sussex’s immigration records after its request for their release under the Freedom of Information Act was previously denied by DHS.
The group argues “the public has an interest in knowing” whether Prince Harry “was properly vetted prior to or during admission into the United States.”
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The Heritage Foundation raised questions about Prince Harry’s writings of past recreational drug use in his memoir, since admission of past drug use can be grounds to reject a visa application.
“We’re only focused on the specific issue that’s drawn all the press attention: the drug use,” attorney Samuel Dewey, who represents the Heritage Foundation, previously told CNN. “He’s talked about, he’s written about it extensively. He has waived any privacy interest he has in his drug use. He has bragged about it (in his memoir) and sold that.”
In court documents, the Heritage Foundation argued there are only certain ways Prince Harry could have entered the United States in March 2020.
“He might have been in possession of a diplomatic visa, but Heritage contended that was unlikely given his status with the Royal Family … Or he might have disclosed his past drug use and sought a waiver of admission… But, Heritage argued, this normally would take several years to attain,” the documents read. “Alternatively, the Duke may have disclosed his past drug use but have been admitted into the United States without a waiver—which in Heritage’s view would be unlawful.”
“Heritage contended that the Duke’s ‘conduct likely violated numerous laws’ that should have made him ineligible for admission,” the court documents say.
Why does a conservative think tank want to see Prince Harry’s immigration records?
Attorneys for the Heritage Foundation see the case as part of a larger effort to uncover non-compliance with the law by DHS in different areas – including accusations from Republican lawmakers that DHS is “deliberately refusing to enforce the Country’s immigration laws and is responsible for the current crisis at the border,” court filings read.
“This is a case that concerns Prince Harry, but what it’s focused on is DHS’s conduct,” Dewey previously said.
“I am stunned that a Federal Court judge allowed a private entity to obtain immigration files,” immigration attorney Charles Kuck told CNN, arguing immigration files are under the protection of The Privacy Act of 1974. “I think it opens a massive door if the federal courts are going to allow individual citizens to request immigration files of other citizens and residents.”
DHS has noted the US Customs and Border Protection agency originally denied the Freedom of Information Act requests from the Heritage Foundation because the group did not have Prince Harry’s authorization or consent to release the information. But US District Judge Carl Nichols has since ruled in favor of the conservative think tank, ordering the redacted versions of the immigration documents be made public no later than Tuesday.
“Given that many of these facts were known about Harry before he filed for his green card, then I don’t think immigration is going to be able to revoke his green card,” Kuck told CNN. “This is being done as a publicity stunt, not, I think, to ultimately take Harry’s green card away.”
Immigration documents that could be released include Prince Harry’s I-485 form, the Application to Register Permanent Residence, as well as his wife’s petition for him, financial information, his work history, and supporting documents with marriage pictures together, Kuck said.
Prince Harry’s wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is an American citizen.
One question the I-485 form asks is ‘Have you ever violated (…) any controlled substance law or regulation of a state, the United States, or a foreign country?’
That question has been the subject of numerous cases at the Board of Immigration Appeals, Kuck told CNN, “because in order to answer that question, you have to know the elements of the crime.”
“No person in their right mind would answer ‘yes’ to that question. Because what crime are you talking about? What are the elements of that crime? What are the parameters of violating that law? … I don’t know what the elements of the crime are,” Kuck said.
President Trump told the New York Post last month that he has ruled out deporting Prince Harry, who now lives in Montecito, California, with his wife and their two children, Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3.
“I don’t want to do that,” the president told the New York Post. “I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
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