THE US Government was last night branded ‘outrageous’ for refusing to reveal details about Prince Harry’s American visa application – on the grounds he had a “right to privacy”.
It came as a bid by campaign group the Heritage Foundation to uncover whether he lied about his drug use was rejected for a second time.
Immigration authorities claimed that the prince, who wrote a memoir and did a six part Netflix series about his life, had a ‘right to privacy’.
But a US think tank which is seeking the material claimed that the refusal was just a delaying tactic and the idea they were playing games was ‘outrageous’.
The Heritage Foundation is seeking the release of the documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under America’s Freedom of Information law.
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It claimed that Harry could have lied about taking drugs in his immigration paperwork despite admitting doing them in his memoir and in the Netflix show.
If the prince did not tell the truth on his entry forms then he could be removed from the US.
DHS initially rejected the application and the Heritage Foundation filed a lawsuit in a court in Washington to overturn that decision.
The letter said that the US’s claims that the Heritage Foundation’s points were just ‘inflammatory allegations’ was just ‘an effort to distract from the record’.
The idea that it was not acting properly in court was ‘outrageous’, the foundation said.
The letter said the foundation wanted a quick decision on whether the case would proceed but accused the US of ‘dilatory’ conduct
Instead it has reluctantly agreed to a longer timetable with motions being filed until November and a judge’s decision after that.
In its second refusal, DHS confirmed for the first time that ‘entry and exit records’ for Harry do exist, though it refused to elaborate further.
The department said that even though Harry was a ‘public figure’, that does not mean that he would ‘forfeit all rights of privacy’.
It said: ‘Providing the Duke’s entry and exit records would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy’.
DHS said that it would only release the material if there was strong evidence of ‘government impropriety’ rather than a ‘bare suspicion of misconduct’ as was alleged.
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DHS said: ‘Information that may have subjected a traveler to additional scrutiny at one time has the possibility of being considered untimely and irrelevant at a later date.
‘Given these facts, one person’s CBP entry and exit records, even a famous person’s, is insufficient evidence to undermine public confidence in CBP and its application of equal justice under the law’.
The Freedom of Information application was filed by Nile Gardiner, director of the foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.
Immigration experts have said that Harry’s admissions could lead to him being denied entry into the US by any border agent.
Harry has declined to comment on the case.