Noem looking to further bolster Texas security efforts at US-Mexico border
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Wednesday that her administration is considering increasing its support for Texas’ efforts to curb immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, such as sending razor wire and security personnel.
The second-term Republican governor denounced conditions at the border in a speech to a joint session of the Legislature, a meeting she requested Monday after visiting the border last week. Noem, once seen as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, has focused on the border situation during her tenure.
“The United States of America is in a time of invasion,” Noem said. “The invasion is coming across our southern border. The fifty states have a common enemy, and that enemy is the Mexican drug cartels. They are waging war on our nation, and these cartels are perpetuating violence in every one of our states, even right here in South Dakota.”
Border security is a focus in many states and in Congress, where Republicans are making aid to Ukraine conditional on a border security deal and pushing for the ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Even President Joe Biden has said he would close the border if given emergency authority to do so as part of a deal.
Noem cited illegal drugs, including fentanyl, and violent crime affecting communities and tribal reservations. She said she plans to “very publicly” support the Oglala Sioux Tribe in the lawsuit filed last week against the federal government, seeking more support for law enforcement.
In November, Tribal President Frank Star Comes Out declared a state of emergency on the Pine Ridge Reservation due to rising crime. A federal judge ruled last year that the federal government has a treaty obligation to provide law enforcement support on the reservation, but declined to rule on the level of funding the tribe sought.
The governor also said South Dakota is willing to send razor wire to Texas. Her administration is “exploring various legal options on how we can support Texas and force the federal government to do its job,” she said, and is also considering options for supplying personnel.
Democratic state Sen. Shawn Bordeaux said Noem “should focus on South Dakota.”
He added: “I think it’s a shame that she is using the Mexican border for her own political purposes to further her own agenda and align it with former President Trump, and she is doing so at the expense of the tribes. ”
He said Noem previously paid little attention to tribes in the area during his 10 years as a state lawmaker and two years as a councilman for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.
“I’m just a little bit disturbed that we haven’t heard anything so far and suddenly it’s very important to interrupt us in the middle of our session with any kind of trick to get a little more attention, in my opinion,” said Bordeaux.
Republican House Majority Leader Will Mortenson said Noem “painted a pretty vivid picture of the situation at the border and made a compelling case for the need for action at the border.” Lawmakers will look for specific proposals to put forward during the current session, he said. said.
Noem has sent South Dakota National Guard troops to the border three times, including last year, and she has been there several times, including on Friday. Other Republican governors have deployed troops and also visited the border.
In 2021, Noem was criticized for accepting a $1 million donation offered by a wealthy Republican donor to cover the costs of a two-month deployment of 48 troops to the US-Mexico border in Texas.