Minnesota State Rep Kaohly Her (DFL- St Paul) is clarifying remarks she made on the house floor that she is an illegal immigrant.
She made the comments during debate of a bill that would withdrawal health coverage for undocumented immigrants.
“When you think about those people, think about me,” she said. “My family broke the law to come here. I never knew that,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported her saying.
She explained her father then an employee for US Aid processed the paperwork. Since his mother had died, he listed her grandma as his mother.
“So I am illegal in this country,” she further elaborated, according to KSTP. “My parents are illegal in this country, and when we were fleeing that situation, never one time did my family say, ‘Let’s look at which state has the greatest welfare and the best benefits because that’s the state we’re going to go to. Nobody leaves their country unless they have to leave that country.”
Her remarks led some to question if she should be allowed to vote on legislation.
“If I was the one asking the questions, [I would] want to know from her why she felt it was necessary to describe herself in that way. If it wasn’t factually correct, what was the benefit, either rhetorically or in terms of advancing policy, in identifying yourself as illegally in the country, if, in point of fact, you are a citizen and have legal status,” Rep. Walter Hudson said.
Her would later clarify her remarks through a written statement.
“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.“
