South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been banned from a reservation in the state over her recent comments about the illegal immigration crisis and how she wants to send razor wire to Texas to help the state fend off illegal border crossers. The Republican governor also claimed the cartels have a presence on several tribal reservations and are committing crimes within those territories and using them to facilitate the spread of deadly drugs throughout the country.
“Due to the safety of the Oyate, effective immediately, you are hereby Banished from the homelands of the Oglala Sioux Tribe!” Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said in a Friday statement posted on Facebook.
Star Comes Out specifically took issue with comments she made before a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature on Jan. 31, claiming she's just attempting to help former President Trump’s election campaign, thereby boosting her chances of becoming his running mate.
Noem responded to the tribal leader's letter on Saturday, saying it's "unfortunate" he "chose to bring politics into a discussion regarding the effects of our federal government’s failure to enforce federal laws at the southern border and on tribal lands."
She highlighted her efforts to build relationships between the state and tribes but said her comments that Star Comes Out took issue with were the truth.
“In my speech to the legislature earlier this week, I told the truth of the devastation that drugs and human trafficking have on our state and our people," she said. "The Mexican cartels are not only impacting our tribal reservations; they are impacting every community, from our big cities to our small towns. But our tribal reservations are bearing the worst of that in South Dakota. Speaking this fact is not meant to blame the tribes in any way – they are the victim here. They are the victim of cartel-driven criminal activity, and they are the victim of inaction by the federal government."
Noem also made clear she has addressed issues surrounding tribal law enforcement not just with the Biden administration, but discussed them with Trump administration officials as well.
She concluded by thanking the Star Comes Out for his military service and reiterated her desire to work with tribes.
“As I told bipartisan Native American legislators earlier this week, ‘I am not the one with a stiff arm, here. You can’t build relationships if you don’t spend time together,'" she said. "I stand ready to work with any of our state’s Native American tribes to build such a relationship.”