Prince Harry faces new twist in US drug deportation threat

The US Department of Homeland Security has been sued after it was ‘conveniently’ unable to locate Prince Harry’s key immigration file.

The US government has been sued over its refusal to release Prince Harry’s immigration records after his drug-use revelations in the memoir, Spare.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court on Monday, local time, after the immigration agency was “conveniently” unable to find key documents relating to the Duke of Sussex’s visa application, according to The Heritage Foundation, a conservative American think tank.

The latest legal challenge comes as Prince Harry prepares to return to the UK for King Charles’ coronation, placing extra scrutiny on his re-entry to the United States.

While it is currently unknown which immigration visa Prince Harry used to enter the US, his revelations of cocaine, magic mushroom and marijuana use could put his legal status in the country at risk if they were not declared to the Department of Homeland Security.

The lawsuit alleges the United States Citizens and Immigration Service (USCIS), which processes visa applications, responded to the Heritage Foundation’s freedom of information request claiming they were unable to locate Prince Harry’s “A-File”.

The US government has been sued after refusing to release Prince Harry’s immigration status under a freedom of information law request. Picture: Getty Images

An A-File, or Alien File, is the official file for all the immigration and naturalisation records created for a non-citizen entering the United States.

The Heritage Foundation’s lawyer, Sam Dewey, said the USCIS’s inability to find Prince Harry’s A-file was either convenient, or they were actually confused about royal titles.

“We don’t know since they never got back to us. But it is interesting they reached out, we tried to help, and didn’t hear anything,” he said.

Prince Harry leaving the Royal Courts of Justice during his previous return to the UK in late March. Picture: Getty Images

According to the lawsuit, a USCIS representative called the Heritage Foundation in mid-March “indicating that they were having difficulty locating the Duke of Sussex’s A-File”.

“Counsel for Plaintiffs immediately engaged with USCIS and explained that because of conventions applicable to the naming of senior members of the Royal Family, it is possible that the Duke of Sussex used any number of names on immigration forms,” the lawsuit alleges.

“Regrettably, Plaintiffs have received nothing further from USCIS.”

A State Department spokesman has said in a statement that visa records are confidential under Section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

“Therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases,” the spokesman said.

Eyebrows were raised over Prince Harry’s legal status in the US after the release of Spare in January, and the subsequent media blitz that mined the depths of his trauma and drug use.

He admitted to using cocaine from the age of 17, pointing to a shooting weekend and “a few more lines” on other occasions. He admitted to taking magic mushrooms at a celebrity party in California and smoking marijuana after his first date with Meghan Markle in 2016.

“Marijuana is different [to cocaine]. It did really help me,” he said during the online therapy session with Dr Gabor Maté.

Hallucinogens like ayahuasca, meanwhile, helped him remove “life’s filters”. “It removed it all for me and brought me a sense of relaxation, relief, comfort, a lightness that I managed to hold back for a period of time,” he said.

“I started doing it recreationally and then started to realise how good it was for me. I would say it is one of the fundamental parts of my life that changed me and helped me deal with the traumas and the pains of the past. They’re unlocking so much of what we’ve suppressed.”

Prince Harry’s memoir and his public comments have been compiled by The Heritage Foundation into a dossier sent to The Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection, and the US Citizenship Immigration Services as part of his legal bid to release his visa application under freedom of information laws.

The foundation is also demanding the release of private emails, text messages, and WhatsApp correspondence as part of its request.

Originally published as Prince Harry faces new twist in US drug deportation threat