A government court on Friday will certainly listen to a suit brought by the conservative Heritage Foundation versus the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to acquire the immigration records of Prince Harry, that has actually stayed in the U.S. considering that 2020, over issues regarding his confessed use controlled substances.

In taking legal action against the DHS, the Heritage Foundation is looking for clearness on whether appropriate procedures were adhered to in approving the Duke of Sussex access right into the U.S. The action can be found in the wake of discoveries from Harry’s narrative Spare, where he openly reviews his previous substance abuse, consisting of drug, cannabis, and magic mushrooms. The Heritage Foundation competes that such admissions elevate major inquiries regarding the prince’s qualification for a U.S. visa under immigration regulation.

Although movie critics have actually rejected the legal action as political movie theater, the Heritage Foundation has actually claimed that the general public ought to recognize the situations bordering Harry’s admission right into the nation. “Given Harry’s extensive drug use admissions, normally disqualifying for entry into the United States, Americans deserve to know if Prince Harry lied on his application and DHS looked the other way or gave him otherwise preferential treatment,” Nile Gardiner, supervisor of the structure’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, composed in a media advisory Thursday.

The Heritage Foundation, a significant conservative brain trust in Washington, had actually formerly submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) demand for Harry’s immigration documents. DHS refuted the demand in June and has actually asked for the instance to be tossed out, insisting that immigration records are generally excluded from FOIA.

“Widespread and continuous media coverage has surfaced the question of whether DHS properly admitted the Duke of Sussex in light of the fact that he has publicly admitted to the essential elements of a number of drug offenses,” the structure specified in its legal action.

Harry, that currently copes with his American other half Meghan Markle and 2 youngsters in Southern California, most likely went into the U.S. on either a spousal visa or an O-1 visa, which are scheduled for people with “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.” However, the Heritage Foundation has actually said that also if Harry was qualified for these visas, his background of substance abuse might have positioned an obstacle to his admission.

The U.S. commonly inquires about substance abuse on visa applications, which has actually created traveling difficulties for various other somebodies, yet confessing to previous medicine usage does not instantly protect against people from going into or continuing to be in the nation, particularly if the candidate remains in remission.

TIME has actually connected to Harry’s reps.

Asked just recently by Good Morning America if he has actually considered ending up being a U.S. resident, he claimed that “American citizenship is a thought that has crossed my mind but isn’t something that’s a high priority for me right now.”

The Duke of Sussex composed in his narrative, launched in January 2023, that he initially did drug at the age of 17 and has actually utilized it moderately considering that. “It wasn’t much fun, and it didn’t make me particularly happy, as it seemed to make everyone around me, but it did make me feel different, and that was the main goal,” he composed.

Harry likewise confessed to utilizing cannabis and mushrooms to manage psychological difficulties and the stress of imperial life, defining himself as a “deeply unhappy 17-year-old boy willing to try almost anything that would alter the status quo.” He informed Oprah in 2021 that he would certainly consume alcohol and make use of medications to numb the discomfort of his mom Princess Diana’s fatality. “I was willing to drink, I was willing to take drugs,” he claimed. “I was willing to try and do the things that made me feel less like I was feeling.”