Madison – At yesterday’s committee hearing about SB 311, Senators Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) and Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee) lied about a woman who self-deported, claiming she died. Senator Carpenter disrupted the meeting multiple times and at one point lunged over a table and attempted to take the gavel away from the committee chairman.
Senator Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) the bill’s author, issued the following statement:
“Today, Senators Larson and Carpenter repeatedly lied about Yessenia Ruano, a woman who self-deported earlier this year, claiming that she was unable to receive medication while in the process of being deported, and as a result ‘she died. She’s dead!’
“That’s a bald-faced lie! They lied that she had legal status. They lied that she was deported. They lied that she couldn’t get her medications. They lied that she died! A reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel confirmed after yesterday’s hearing that Yessenia Ruano is very much alive, currently living in El Salvador, and has not had trouble accessing medication.
“Democrats need to stop the lies, stop the dangerous rhetoric, and start treating people – even those they disagree with politically – like fellow human beings. With so much misinformation out there, they are adding to it. They created an untrue scary story to make people fearful, rather than debate the substance of an idea. This is the same type of dangerous rhetoric that caused a deranged person to assassinate Charlie Kirk. At a time when rational people recognize to turn down the volume and vitriol, Larson and Carpenter turned it up.
“It’s ironic that as Senator Carpenter was chastising Republicans for not knowing about a “widely spread” story, actually saying that my colleagues and I should not hold office if we don’t know the story, Carpenter himself was the person who had the entire relevant substance of the story incorrect.”
“I’d say they should be ashamed of their behavior, but I know they have no shame.”
Video of the event can be viewed with a free account at WisconsinEye at the 45:23 mark of the following video: https://wiseye.org/2025/09/18/senate-committee-on-licensing-regulatory-reform-state-and-federal-affairs-4/
