South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem gave the Biden administration advance warning not to ask her state about accepting illegal immigrants the federal government is looking to relocate.
“South Dakota won’t be taking any illegal immigrants that the Biden Administration wants to relocate,” Noem said on Twitter. “My message to illegal immigrants… call me when you’re an American.”
South Dakota won't be taking any illegal immigrants that the Biden Administration wants to relocate. My message to illegal immigrants... call me when you're an American.
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) April 14, 2021
The statement is similar to positions other Republican governors have taken in recent weeks. On Monday, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed an executive order barring the federal government from placing unaccompanied minors in foster care and group homes in the state.
The governor’s order comes following correspondence with [S.C. Department of Social Services] on the state child welfare system’s capacity to accommodate an influx of minors.
In a letter dated April 8, DSS Director Michael Leach informed Governor McMaster of the federal government’s preliminary inquiries to transport an unknown number of unaccompanied migrant children from the southern border and place them in South Carolina foster care and group homes licensed by DSS.
Fearing the ultimate displacement of South Carolina’s most vulnerable children in an already-strained system, Governor McMaster responded to Director Leach: “South Carolina’s children must always be given first priority for placement into foster care and the State’s strained resources must be directed to addressing the needs of its children. Allowing the federal government to place an unlimited number of unaccompanied migrant children into our state’s child welfare system for an unspecified length of time is an unacceptable proposition. We’ve been down this road with the federal government before and the state usually ends up ‘on the hook.’” (Governor's Office)
Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds have also stated they declined requests from the federal government to house unaccompanied minors. "This is not our problem, this is the president’s problem," Reynolds said.
As of Wednesday, a spokesman for Noem told the Des Moines Register the state hadn't received a request yet but the governor's statement was a notice to not even ask.
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