Minnesota Rep. Kaohly Vang Her’s ‘My family broke the law to come here’ comment: Full context
St. Paul lawmaker's immigration comments cause firestorm
A social media firestorm broke out Monday when some people missed the context of a Minnesota DFL Representative’s comments on the MinnesotaCare cuts for undocumented adults. Rep. Kaohly Vang Her, a Democrat from St. Paul, said, "My family broke the law to come here," sparking questions about her status as a documented citizen.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A social media firestorm broke out Monday when some people missed the context of a Minnesota DFL Representative’s comments on the MinnesotaCare cuts for undocumented adults.
‘My family broke the law to come here’
What they're saying:
Rep. Kaohly Vang Her, a Democrat from St. Paul, said, "My family broke the law to come here. I never knew that. I just learned that now. So when you’re thinking about voting ‘no’ on this bill, you’re voting ‘no’ against someone like me."
Rep. Her’s comments led to some widely-shared misinformation with people claiming she’s undocumented, and serving in the Minnesota Legislature.
Her is documented immigrant
Why you should care:
FOX 9 confirmed Monday she’s not undocumented.
Her is a citizen who was a Hmong refugee from Laos with her family in the 1970s. Her's father found a way to skip a step and get them to the United States faster.
Rep. Her had legal documentation, and she was naturalized in junior high school. Her's family has since been naturalized as well.
My story was ‘twisted into anti-immigrant clickbait’
What Her is saying:
Following her speech on the House floor and subsequent social media outrage, Her released the following statement:
"It's incredibly disheartening that my floor speech — where I shared my family's deeply personal immigration story — was twisted into anti-immigrant clickbait. Let me be absolutely clear: my parents are citizens, and so am I. This clickbait directly contradicts the empathy and understanding I sought to foster and instead fueled anti-immigrant narratives with falsehoods. My family story should not have been weaponized to spread misinformation.
"My family came to the United States in 1976. We came legally as refugees of the Vietnam War, where my grandfather was a Colonel, fighting with the CIA, in the Secret War. I have been a citizen for almost four decades. Regardless of how MAGA extremists see me in their eyes, I am legal, and I am a citizen. My family has lived the American Dream. My parents worked honorable blue-collar jobs and built a life for my siblings and me. We completed our education, secured gainful employment, paid our taxes, gave back to our communities, and served in the military and elected office for the very country that gave us a new start.
"All refugees and immigrants, documented or not, have the right to seek a better life, to have safety for their family, and to fulfill their greatest potential — like all immigrants who came before them.
"It has not been lost on me that when my status was not in question, I was a model citizen who has been held up as the example for all other immigrants and refugees to aspire to. The second my status came into question, the vile comments on my worthiness came out, and those comments are telling. My status would not change all of the adversities I have overcome, the accomplishments I have achieved, and the contributions I have made."