In his tell-all memoir, Spare, Prince Harry, 38, details his previous drug use. “An admission of drug use is usually grounds for inadmissibility,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani says. “That means Prince Harry’s visa should have been denied or revoked because he admitted to using cocaine, mushrooms and other drugs.”
Conservative Think Tank, The Heritage Foundation, has asked for the release of the prince's visa application to determine if Harry was 'properly vetted' before moving to the US. They also want to know if Harry confessed to any drug use on his initial application. Mike Howell, director of the Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project, said: 'This request is in the public interest in light of the potential revocation of Prince Harry’s visa for illicit substance use and further questions regarding the Prince’s drug use and whether he was properly vetted before entering the United States'.
United States immigration law has harsh penalties for lying to immigration officials, including deportation and being barred from applying for citizenship.
Earlier this month, Harry held an online therapy session with trauma expert, Gabor Maté, in which he stated that hallucinogenic drugs are a “fundamental” part of his life. Of hallucinogenic drugs he stated, "I started doing it recreationally and then started to realize 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."
Not all attorneys are in agreement about Harry's situation. Attorney James Leonard, who represented “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” alum Joe Giudice in his immigration case, disagrees with Rahmani; he does not see Harry’s status in the US at such high risk. “Absent any criminal charge related to drugs or alcohol or any finding by a judicial authority that Prince Harry is a habitual drug user, which he clearly is not, I don’t see any issue with the disclosures in his memoir regarding recreational experimentation with drugs,” the New Jersey-based lawyer stated to Page Six.
The Heritage Foundation adds that Prince Harry's case also raises questions about whether he was given special treatment because of his royal status and his wife's celebrity, which they insist would be illegal.
Immigration visa details are kept confidential in the United States, and it is not known what type of US visa Harry holds. The Daily Mail reported that he is believed to hold either a spousal visa or an O-1 visa granted to people possessing an “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics” or a record of extraordinary achievement in film or television.
O-1 visas are initially granted for three years, meaning that if Harry has that type of visa, he may have to re-apply this year with elements of his past drug use now public.
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