On November 4, 2025, the city of St. Paul, Minnesota, elected an illegal alien as mayor. Former state Rep. Kaohly Her beat out the competition to become the city’s mayor, despite the fact she’s not in the United States legally, which many conservatives fear could become a trend in other cities across the country in the very near future.
In a campaign mailer that was sent out by Her’s campaign during the lead-up to the election, the Democratic Party candidate swore to “make our neighborhoods safer” through “strong partnerships” with local law enforcement officers and first responders. She then commented on the local economy, saying the city’s “development has stalled,” promising to create an environment that would welcome business.
“We’ve lost critical retailers, and our tax base is stretched thin,” Her continued. The mailer also spoke of St. Paul’s housing stock, pointing out it was too expensive and required an infusion of public, affordable, and market-rate units. Then comes the most interesting part. Beneath the header, “Defending Our Neighbors,” Her wrote about being a refugee.
According to Inforum, Her said, “I am a refugee and know the stakes are high for our immigrant neighbors. I will actively rise to meet the moment and not just passively respond.” During a speech before a large crowd at the International Institute, the former state representative revealed that until she was financially secure in her thirties, she had never considered a career in politics.
”Politics is a privilege,” she told those in attendance. “When you spend so much of your life just trying to survive … there’s so much uncertainty. … When you don’t have that privilege, you don’t get to decide what gets to be on the agenda.” Later she added, “There is nothing that has prepared me better for how to do this job than having been born a Hmong woman. … I carry all of you with me into this work.”
In various interviews and materials for her campaign, Her openly discussed her birth in the mountains of Laos, where she says she was born in a bamboo hut, and her journey to the United States when she was three-years-old. The Her family started off in Illinois, moved to Wisconsin, and then settled in St. Paul. They became prominent members of the Hmong community.
The family then pooled money together with other Hmong refugees to launch the region’s first Southeast Asian-themed food distributors, along with a restaurant. According to a report from Fox News, Her admitted in June 2025 that she was in the United States illegally, just several months before she would go on to win the mayoral race.
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Her, at the time a state representative, attended a special session of the Minnesota Legislature that was called to order by Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, where lawmakers were debating about making changes to MinnesotaCare eligibility for illegal adult immigrants. She took an opportunity during the debate to share the story of how her family came to America.
Her revealed she was close with her dad, who brought the family to the U.S. at the end of the Vietnam War, asking him how he got them into the country. She stated that previously, before talking with her father, she believed they were granted entry into the U.S., but that turned out not to be true. Her dad worked for the U.S. Consulate because he was one of the few who could speak English and type fast.
“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,” Her explained. “And so, I am illegal in this country. My parents are illegal here 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 which state has the greatest benefits, because that’s the state we’re going to go to.’”
“I never knew that,” she said. “I just learned that now. So, when you’re thinking about voting no on this bill, you’re voting no against someone like me who paid more into this country than it has ever given to me, that the blood of my grandfather, who died for democracy, that he never received benefits being in this country, and yet he paid taxes his entire life into it.” She concluded by telling her colleagues, “They didn’t want to leave where they were. We are not looking to what state is going to give us the best benefits. We’re looking to just be alive.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video