Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) are sharply criticizing a New York Times feature that portrayed both an undocumented immigrant and an American whose identity he allegedly stole as victims, calling the framing misleading.
Reacting to the New York Times‘s headline, “Two Men. One Identity. They Both Paid the Price,” Vance wrote on X, “What shameful framing from the NYT.”
What shameful framing from the NYT. https://t.co/1SkJ3YmlvA
— JD Vance (@JDVance) November 24, 2025
Lee echoed the criticism, arguing the paper blurred the moral distinction between the two men.
“In no way are these moral equivalents. One man is a victim, the other a perpetrator,” Lee wrote. “NY Times treats them as if they were the same. They are not. NY Times should be ashamed of this story.”
The backlash centers on the New York Times’s profile of Dan Kluver, a lifelong Minnesotan who discovered that a Guatemalan national, deported multiple times and arrested on charges of DUIs, had been using his name and Social Security number for more than a decade. The report detailed how Kluver’s taxes, credit, and legal records were thrown into chaos as he attempted to untangle years of damage caused by identity theft.
Conservative commentators said the piece minimized Kluver’s victimization.
Journalist Philip Wegmann wrote, “Only one ‘Dan Kluver’ in this story is sympathetic, and it isn’t the fellow with a string of DUIs, tens of thousands in back taxes, and a traffic accident that killed a grandfather.”
Former Trump official Theo Wold accused the New York Times of glamorizing an illegal immigrant with a long record while softening the consequences for Kluver.
“The New York Times tells the story of two men,” Wold wrote, contrasting Kluver — a churchgoing, law-abiding father — with the undocumented worker who “stole his identity,” had three prior deportations, multiple DUIs, and whose driving was linked to a fatal accident. “But according to our left-wing media class, both of these men are victims and worthy of your sympathy.”
Journalist Charles C.W. Cooke said the story illustrates why defenders of illegal immigration downplay the downstream damage.
“Dan Kluver’s story illustrates why ‘it’s just a civil infraction’ isn’t a good defense of illegal immigration,” Cooke wrote. “It’s what inevitably happens next that is the problem.”
The Washington Examiner’s Byron York criticized the headline as particularly misleading.
“The ‘They Both Paid the Price’ headline is disgraceful,” York said.
The story detailed how Kluver spent years trying to correct IRS records, fight tax bills he didn’t owe, and repair his identity as he uncovered evidence of employment, debts, and legal filings tied to the imposter. Meanwhile, the Guatemalan migrant, identified in court documents as Romeo Perez-Bravo, was living and working under the stolen identity while supporting a large family.
During an interview on Fox News on Tuesday, anchor John Roberts criticized the New York Times’s framing, which portrayed Perez-Bravo as a figure deserving sympathy.
Roberts said the New York Times portrayed the identity thief as “poor Romeo Perez-Bravo,” while neglecting the long-term financial suffering of Kluver, who spent years battling tax bills for income he never earned.
“As opposed to Dan Kluver, living with the consequences,” Roberts said, noting that Kluver was hit with thousands in IRS payments because Perez-Bravo used his stolen Social Security number.
Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin joined Roberts on Tuesday in condemning the newspaper’s portrayal.
“Here you have ‘The New York Times’ twisting themselves into a pretzel to try to make a victim of this criminal illegal alien,” McLaughlin said.
She emphasized Perez-Bravo’s record: “He didn’t just steal the identity of this American citizen… he also has convictions four times for DUI, for terroristic threats, and a conviction for assault. This is not an individual you want to be your neighbor.”
McLaughlin added, “Illegal immigration is not a victimless crime… Behind every single Social Security number is an American victim, a mother, a father, a family member. There is real personal and financial harm.”
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Kluver’s case, which is now moving through federal court, has become a flashpoint in the debate over identity theft, illegal immigration, and media narratives. Perez-Bravo faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison, followed by deportation. However, critics argue that the real harm — financial, legal, and emotional — was borne by Kluver.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the New York Times for comment.
