One of the big political stories today is the Biden administration announcing sweeping new protections for undocumented immigrant spouses of American citizens. As in, immigrant spouses who did not enter the US legally but are still legally married to citizens. It’s basically the Biden administration helping immigrants find another pathway to citizenship, a pathway which is already available to immigrant spouses who enter the country on a visa. I have royal brainrot though, so my first thought was “good news for Prince Harry!” Harry is actually in America on some kind of visa, and by all accounts, his legal status is absolutely fine. That hasn’t stopped the Heritage Foundation from trying to deport him because Heritage wants to go on a fishing expedition through Harry’s visa application and immigration documentation. Heritage has been maliciously targeting Harry for more than a year with this bullsh-t, and DHS lawyers have had to go into court repeatedly with a variety of legal explanations for why Heritage is not allowed to view Harry’s records. DHS’s latest explanation is that Prince Harry isn’t running for office, so he should have the same or more right to privacy as Donald Trump.
Details about Prince Harry’s visa arrangements will be kept private after a case involving Donald Trump was cited as a reason not to release them. Washington DC-based think tank, The Heritage Foundation, has sued Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to release details of the Duke’s visa application.
The group is fighting to reveal whether Harry received preferential treatment in his visa application after he admitted in his memoir, Spare, that he previously took drugs. But now the United States government is using a case involving former US president Donald Trump as a reason to not share details of Prince Harry’s immigration status.
The Trump case involved possible interactions he may have had with the FBI prior to 2015 when he was a private citizen. The information surrounding that case was also sought under a freedom of information request.
John Bardo, a lawyer for the department, said: “They found that President Trump, from when he was a private citizen, his privacy interests outweighed any public interest that there may be in previous interactions he may have had with the FBI. And I would argue, if President Trump has a privacy interest in that kind of interaction with the government, Prince Harry’s privacy interest is even greater. Because he was never a governmental official in this country, has never appeared on a ballot in this country.”
DHS lawyers invoking Trump’s right to privacy in a case brought by Heritage… perfection. Heritage wants to ignore the fact that the Trump administration was in charge when Harry applied for a visa too! Heritage crackheads also want to convince people that if Trump comes back, his first order of business will be “deporting Harry.” Anyway, I agree with the DHS lawyers and what a huge waste of time and money this is. The only reason why Harry’s visa would ever be subject to FOIA request is if he was running for office. And DHS just showed why even then, Harry would still have a right to privacy.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- Guests arrive to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Guests arrive to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Guests arrive to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Guests attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- The Duke of Sussex leaves St Paul’s Cathedral in London after attending a service of thanksgiving to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Yui Mok/PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attending a St Paul’s Cathedral service to mark the Invictus Games’ tenth anniversary Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
I hope this helps Harry close the door on the HS’s harassment. And more importantly because Harry is a “high class” immigrant, I hope this protects ordinary and vulnerable immigrants as well. Especially those who are not rich enough to fight this (easily). It’s such a waste of time and money and so obnoxiously stressful!
While I agree with everything you said, Harry’s not fighting it the US taxpayers are as Homeland Security is who is defending this case, which is more infuriating. Money that could be going to roads, to teacher’s salaries, to food programs and shelters is being spent because right wingers on both sides of the Atlantic can’t stand to see someone who isn’t interested in being a poster child to white supremacy and playing media games thrive.
So true, so many more important things the government could have spent money on.
Former government official here: Federal, state, and local governments don’t operate in this manner. Department budgets are set at the beginning of fiscal years. No amount of funding from the Dept. of Homeland Security will transfer to Dept. of Transportation to cover infrastructural construction. DHS and other government departments have established budgets for legal actions. This should be the least of your worries.
@Kim – Right wingers who can’t figure out where their priorities lay is worrisome. But this seems par for the course for the Hypocritage Foundation and R representatives who scream border patrol, then refuse to vote for bipartisan bills in the hopes that t-rump will win the electoral college (while losing the popular vote (again)). Let’s not even get into their demands for Harry’s private data.
What will really help is when the 2024 Nov Election is over the wind will be taken out of maga’s sails and Trump’s multiple charges are then allowed to proceed again in the courts – then the socalled Heritage foundation shenanigans point blank won’t be tolerated anymore.
@The Robinsons … Unfortunately, this suit by the Heritage Foundation is spearheaded by British former Margaret Thatcher aide Nile Gardiner, who has close ties to British media and is a frequent contributor to the London Daily Telegraph. He won’t give this up because the hope is to provide Harry’s information to the British media.
Nile Gardiner is the Director of the Heritage Foundation’s ‘Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom’.
@The Robinsons
This is the dream! For all well-thinking individuals, this is what we want, hope for, expect and will manifest.
@Yvette
Those are mere words. five-head niles is just an annoying little gnat. Neither he nor the organization he fronts is anything more than a pain in the arse and with the most recent move by the DHS, invoking drumf and his FBI run-in and, by extension, Melania’s suspicious “einstein visa” this little witch hunt is going nowhere.
Wouldn’t a judge normally have thrown out this case?
I know judges can thrown out cases. Legal grounds for abuse of the legal system could be maybe ‘clear history of abusive behavior’, ‘clear pattern effort to abuse’ or ‘mete out revenge without clear just cause’.
I know history will not look kindly at the wide swath and trail of published retaliation and abuse upon Harry and Meghan by the British Elite (and American right wing cult) initiated by Charles and William.
The world KNOWS the power Prince Phillip, Charles, and William have held onto. They will NEVER hand over that power and money. Nor will the British elite interests with whom TRF are enmeshed.
I don’t understand how we fought wars and can celebrate our historical victory against the British monarchy on July 4 yet allow American right wing traitor groups aligned with the monarchy to drag into and REPEATEDLY attempt to bend our own government agency to support the very monarchy influence we fought against and upon which our entire constitutional rights are based.
I am guessing as time passes when cooler minds prevail there will be an investigation into this clear sustained alignment with foreign interests or sustained attempted sabotage by Traitor Heritage Foundation legalizing the interests of a foreign monarchy upon American soil.
And maybe even a Netflix series about it. I’m sure there are traitors and groups deep in the past who attempted similar legal maneuvers in favor of the British monarchy interests and were hung for it.
Juxtaposing two past to present time periods would show the world just how much has NOT changed.
I’d watch it!!
Good, I’m fed up with the right wing press using it to have yet another go at Harry.
Agreed.
Is this to put things in terms that DT’s followers will understand? If they keep pushing they may set a precedent that will affect their hero.
Good point. It ocurred to me also. By invoking drumf’s name, DHS is saying to that racist redneck organization: whatever youre seeking to have happen, regarding Prince Harry’s visa, heres your guy for whom the same thing will happen, youd best believe!
Also, dont forget his wife is here on an “Einstein Visa.” Lots of folks have been wanting to know the grounds on which she “qualified” for this particular visa.
Also, if drumf finds out that his name is being invoked as the precedent in this matter, which could bring him some unwanted attention, I bet he and his people will put the kibosh on this entire heritage fiasco.
I hope this is thrown out once again and that the Judge makes it so the Heritage Foundation will not be allowed to continue this legal witch hunt.
I loved the reference to Trump. Especially as it involved the FBI.
Hopefully using their own argument against them will finally put this to bed. Though if the HF want to throw good money after bad… the DHS has deep pockets and plenty of time.
And don’t forget, his wife’s visa info, as a foreign spouse to an American born (like Harry is to Meghan), is also protected, even though everybody knows that she entered the USA on different reasons than she was aloud to stay in the first place, and that the way she obtained citizenship was questionable (she is by no means an academic with exceptional credentials – she lied, she never finished higher education in her country).
So the HF better stop this nonsense. They don’t want other activism groups to go and open that can of worms in this election year.
Bringing up Trump is a stroke of genius by the DHS.
+1
They might also want to explore why Melania’s parents benefited from what Trump calls chain migration
Hope this is over soon. What a waste.
IMO, this is another example of the UK media attempting to change the media landscape in the US. The Heritage Foundation said that the American people want to know what the Visa application said–not true. This is just more of the people in the bm coming over to the US and getting jobs to spread mis/disinformation.
Once a decision is made in the case and they are refused once again, I’m sure they’ll appeal it. Good luck with that. Melania and Murdoch’s application will become targets for anyone and everyone if it got overturned on appeal. I don’t think that’s what they want. There’s probably some of the wealthy in this Country who immigrated and don’t want their business known by everyone.
DHS has a backlog of FOIA requests and this is how they’ve had to spend their time. It’s infuriating.
Oh, bullshit. Harry is not running for the American presidency and he is NOT on trial for multiple felonies. And he was never a traitor to his country. Give me a frigging break.