Gov. Kristi Noem addressed an emergency joint session of the South Dakota Legislature Wednesday, pledging the state and her administration will stand by Texas Gov Greg Abbott and his efforts to stop the flow of immigrants at the Mexican border.
In her 18-minute speech, Noem called the influx of migrants an “invasion” with the Mexican drug cartels waging a war against the country that makes them a common enemy of all 50 states.
She pointed to illegal drugs, including fentanyl, and violent crime affecting South Dakota communities and its 9 reservations, saying “The cartels are using our reservations to facilitate the spread of drugs throughout the Midwest.
She said she plans to “very publicly” support the Oglala Sioux Tribe in its latest lawsuit against the federal government, which blames the drug and violence problems on the feds failure to provide enough funding to meet treaty obligations for public safety.
Noem said she and the state were willing to send razor wire to Texas, support Texas in legal action and find options to provide personnel, such as national guard troops to Texas. She’s deployed troops to the 3 border times, including last year.
Abbott seized a park near the Rio Grande from federal border patrol agents and installed razor wire and fencing, defending the move by citing the U-S Constitution’s provision that states can defend themselves.
The U-S Supreme Court rejected the argument and ruled that border patrol agents could remove razor wire, but Abbott has strongly hinted he won’t abide by the ruling.
Noem’s pledge to support the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s lawsuit drew a cool response from
Democratic State Senator and former Rosebud Sioux tribal councilman Shawn Bordeaux, who said Noem has paid little attention to the tribes over the last 12 years.
Bordeaux said he’s “just a little perturbed that we haven’t heard nothing until now and all of a sudden it’s a big thing,” adding “it’s a shame that she’s using the Mexican border for her own political purposes and doing it at the expense of the tribes.”