A Minnesota DFL representative is working to clear up her comments about being “illegal in this country” following an onslaught of online backlash and a call to be investigated by a GOP lawmaker. 

During debate on the House floor Monday surrounding ending state-funded health care for undocumented adults in the state, Rep. Kaohly Vang Her revealed she and her parents came to the U.S. illegally — something she also claimed to have just recently found out about.

RELATED: Special session: House passes measure to strip health care from undocumented adults

But later, in a statement, she said that they are citizens and that she has been for four decades. 

While describing how she and her family arrived in the U.S., Rep. Her said her grandfather worked for the CIA during the Vietnam War and mentioned an issue with their citizenship paperwork when they arrived. 

“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. So I am illegal in this country. 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,'” Rep. Her said on the House floor. “Nobody leaves their country unless they have to leave that country.”

Those comments sparked questions and comments on social media about whether she can legally vote or serve in the legislature — some even called for her arrest. 

Rep. Her denied 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS’ request for an interview to seek further clarity about her comments and ask how she and her parents eventually sought and were granted citizenship. She did send 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.”

GOP Rep. Walter Hudson initially posted a video on social media, calling for an investigation into Rep. Her. he has since walked that back, given her statement, but did share with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS about what he still wants to see. 

“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. Hudson said. 

Rep. Her’s full speech on the House floor can be watched below.