Minnesota Democrat Lawmaker Claims to Be in U.S. Illegally

Democrat Minnesota State Rep. Kaohly Vang Her claimed Monday that she was in the United States illegally and has remained in the country illegally since her family fled the Vietnam War. Although Her later alleged that both she and her parents are now citizens, her comments drew criticism for misrepresenting her immigration status and muddying the debate over taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens.

Her’s comments came after Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called a special session of the legislature on Monday to debate a bill that would make illegal aliens ineligible for the state’s Medicaid program. During the debate over the legislation, Her claimed that her father worked for a U.S. consulate in Vietnam and was responsible for processing refugee paperwork. Despite her father’s position, Her’s family missed three opportunities to come to the U.S.

She then explained how her father broke the law to finally get them into the country.

“What my father did was, one of our uncles worked for USAID, and because his mother had died, my father, as the one processing the paperwork, put my grandmother down as his mother,” she said. “And so, I am illegal in this country. My parents are illegal here in this country.”

Her told this story of her father breaking the law in an attempt to garner sympathy from Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature for illegal aliens.

In an interview later that day with the Minnesota Reformer, Her partially backtracked the story and claimed that she and her family were legal residents of the U.S.

The Minnesota Reformer reported that Her’s father still “technically broke the law when he filled out paperwork for the family to come to the U.S. as refugees” in an attempt to “expedite the process to come to the U.S.” Potential refugees were processed quicker “if they had family connections to the military, CIA or USAID.”

When Her explained that her “uncle” had worked for USAID, she was referring to a “family friend” not actually related to her family. Her’s father reportedly lied in his paperwork by claiming to have a familial connection to this family friend.

The legislation to prohibit illegal aliens from having access to the state’s Medicaid program passed both the state House and Senate with help from some Democrats. Walz has promised to sign the legislation into law, which is expected to save the state $57 million over the course of two years – just the latest admission from Democrats that the math doesn’t work on taxpayer-funded healthcare for illegal aliens.

The Minnesota State House is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats with 67 seats each. If Democrats lose one seat, Republicans will be in the majority. If Her’s claim that her father broke the law to move to the U.S. is investigated, Democrats could lose a seat if she is determined ineligible to hold office.

Republicans and conservative influencers have called for the Trump administration to take action against Her’s family for potentially committing immigration fraud. Social media personality Bo Loudon called for the administration to “deport, deport, deport.” Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok stated on X that Her “is here illegally,” “ran for office despite not being a U.S. citizen,” and “voted in our elections.” She called for Her to be “arrested and deported.”

Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.