US President Donald Trump has said that he will not force Prince Harry to leave the country amid questions over his immigration status and also took a swipe at Meghan Markle
Donald Trump says he has no plans to deport Prince Harry from the United States amid a legal battle over his immigration status and claimed he had “enough problems” with Meghan Markle.
“I don’t want to do that,” said the US president. “I’ll leave him alone. He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.” It comes after questions were raised over why Harry was allowed into the US after admitting to taking drugs in his memoir Spare.
Think tank the Heritage Foundation subsequently launched a legal case and argued that the US Government should release records regarding his visa application to determine whether his drug use was disclosed. The organisation alleges that he may have concealed the illegal drug use that should have denied him a US visa.
It has also claimed that Joe Biden may have given Harry preferential treatment when he relocated to California from the UK when he and Meghan bowed out of royal duties altogether. The latest in the two-year legal battle saw a judge in the US hint at the possibility of releasing some of the sealed documents from the Duke of Sussex’s visa application.
In a Washington DC hearing on Thursday, the judge revealed that they wanted the “maximum disclosure as long as it doesn’t violate privacy”. They also explained how they were “not foreclosing the possibility that there might be some possible relief” and asked Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide requests for redactions or “continued withholdings”.
Trump, who can intervene and ask for the documents to be released as US president, previously warned that Harry could face consequences if he lied about taking drugs on his US visa application. In his controversial memoir Spare, Harry admits to taking cocaine, marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms. The duke revealed cocaine “didn’t do anything for me”, adding: “Marijuana is different, that actually really did help me.”
US visa applications specifically ask the individual about current and past drug use, which can have a detrimental impact on the progress of the application. Prolific drug use can lead to applications being rejected, however, immigration officers use their discretion against a range of factors.
In recent interviews, Harry has gushed about his life in California with wife Meghan Markle and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. He even revealed that the thought of applying for American citizenship had crossed his mind. Back in September, Judge Carl Nichols ruled that the public did not have a strong interest in disclosure of the duke’s immigration records, but the Heritage Foundation is asking for the judgment to be changed.
