Prince Harry could face deportation because of his past use of illegal drugs, which he has discussed in recent interviews and in his “Spare” memoir, experts say.
The book’s revelations include stories about Harry‘s use of substances such as marijuana, cocaine and psychedelic drugs. The issue grew when the Heritage Foundation filed legal documents requesting the U.S. government disclose if Harry mentioned his drug use in his U.S. residency application.
While U.S. ambassador to the UK Jane Hartley says a deportation action against Harry was “not going to happen in the Biden administration,” it doesn’t appear to be over. An immigration lawyer recently told The Daily Beast that the Duke of Sussex “could be vulnerable to a politically motivated attack on his residential status.”
“Department of State decisions are discretionary and very susceptible to political influence. His visa could be canceled. He could be denied entry upon return to the U.S. from foreign travel for inadmissibility due to prior drug usage despite an unexpired visa in his passport. There are many scenarios where political influence could impact Harry’s ability to re-enter the U.S.,” the lawyer said.
Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, moved to California in June 2020.
The situation took on a political edge in light of former President Donald Trump’s statement that he may seek the prince’s deportation if re-elected.
“The issue that perhaps Harry hadn’t thought about so clearly is what would happen if there were to be a change of government,” royal writer Lady Colin Campbell told the Daily Beast. “If Trump wins, Harry may well come to regret these very foolish remarks, made no doubt at the urging of his publisher to sell a few more books. The reality is that no foreigner has an inviolable right to enter another country and you can be made a ‘persona non grata’ at the drop of a hat.”
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