Kaohly Her has one of the most striking background stories in US politics – a Hmong refugee born in a bamboo hut in the mountains of Laos who came to the US at age three as part of a Vietnam-war era resettlement program.
Now, as the newly installed mayor of Saint Paul, the city twinned with Minneapolis, she has emerged as an important figure in Minnesota, the solidly Democratic state targeted by the Trump administration’s exercise of controversial immigration policies.
Her, the first woman, first Asian American and first Hmong American to serve as Saint Paul mayor, started her term just three weeks ago, vowing in her inaugural address to confront what she called “the incursion” of the federal government “head-on”.
That week, Renee Good, a US mother of three who lived 15 miles away in Minneapolis, was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. Since then, Her has been placed under federal investigation for allegedly obstructing federal immigration enforcement.
A church service in the mayor’s city was interrupted by anti-ICE protestors, with several facing charges under the Face and KKK Acts, and a friend’s brother-in-law, ChongLy Scott Thao, 57, was photographed being taken from his home by ICE officers in freezing temperatures wearing only shorts, a blanket and sandals, a sight Her later said was “heartbreaking”.
View image in fullscreen Students protest against federal immigration action in
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