Prince Harry didn’t receive preferential treatment when he emigrated to the United States — so says the Department of Homeland Security in a new reveal! Kind of.
On Tuesday, officials at DHS released a series of very (very, very) heavily redacted documents covering Prince Harry’s 2020 move to the United States to live on the southern California coast with wife Meghan Markle. And as part of the new set of docs, a DHS lawyer publicly stated that Harry’s immigration application followed “applicable rules and regulations” as required by law.
Related: Meghan Takes Subtle Jab At Royal Life In Netflix Show — And Harry Reacts!
Why does that matter, tho?? Well, as you may recall from our prior reporting on the subject, the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank previously filed a lawsuit against the gov alleging the Spare author received preferential treatment when it came to his immigration status. You know, treatment that wouldn’t be afforded to a regular ol’ guy or gal.
Plus, that supposed privilege was further complicated by chatter about Harry admitting to past drug use in his memoir — admissions that Heritage’s lawsuit says should have gotten him booted from the country! In fact, at one point prior to his re-election last year, President Donald Trump indicated he might even deport Harry if given the opportunity! Serious stuff!
But in Tuesday’s newly revealed docs, DHS pushed back on Heritage’s claims. Er, well, sort of. See, the main issue here for those of us wanting to know more is that SO MUCH of the six revealed documents were redacted! It was page after freakin’ page of blacked-out lines covering things up! Thus, if you were looking for a lot of specifics regarding Harry’s application, or the past drug use conundrum that has pestered him for years now, you’re s**t outta luck.
Womp womp!
There is one major thing to note, though: one of the released documents was a declaration from a man named Jarrod Panter. He’s the chief Freedom of Information Officer at DHS, and in his declaration, he confirmed that the department has determined it is “not possible” to fully release Harry’s records despite what the Heritage Foundation wanted!
That’s because, according to Panter’s declaration, it is customary for immigration officials to “routinely protect from disclosure the nonimmigrant/immigrant status sought by third parties who do not have permission from the beneficiary to receive this information.” AKA, in this case, the Heritage Foundation. Panter went on from there:
“To release such information would potentially expose the individual to harm from members of the public who might have a reason to manipulate or harass individuals depending on their status in the United States.”
Plus, the mere idea of making Harry’s immigration status public could “reasonably foreseeable harm in the form of harassment as well as unwanted contact by the media and others,” Panter continued.
That would be bad enough on its own for Harry and his Suits alum spouse, right? Yup! But it’s actually even MORE chilling and unsettling when you think of how that potential for “harassment” relates to the Trump admin’s ongoing attacks on immigrants and other marginalized groups. Ugh!!!
Related: Meghan INSISTS She And Harry Are In Their Honeymoon Period, But…
Panter also plainly rejected Heritage’s assertion that Harry got preferential treatment when he moved to the US. The DHS official concluded:
“This speculation by [the Heritage Foundation] does not point to any evidence of government misconduct. The records, as explained above, do not support such an allegation but show the regulatory process involved in reviewing and granting immigration benefits which was done in compliance with the Immigration and Nationality Act and applicable rules and regulation.”
And like we said, everything else was pretty much redacted. Panter’s declaration contained a seven-page-long (!) list of documents identified that pertained to the case… all of which were blacked out! Every single one! Redactions, redactions, redactions galore!
One of the only things that isn’t blacked out in the docs is a partial transcript of a hearing dated April 30, 2024 in which both government lawyers and the Heritage Foundation’s attorneys are discussing the case on the record. And the passage mentions Sting! Yes, that Sting! At one point, an unidentified person said, “…in whether Prince Harry or Sting or anyone else you can think of who is prominent has a particular visa status.”
Well, that’s random…
But beyond Panter’s declaration and the unexpected (and seemingly unrelated) Sting sighting, there ain’t much else to go on here.
So, has the Heritage Foundation’s lawsuit hit a brick wall?? Or could they point to the heavy redactions as proof that DHS is hiding something more nefarious?!
Only time will tell, we suppose. But what do U think, Perezcious readers?! Share your takes down in the comments (below)…
[Image via MEGA/WENN]
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