Gov. Kristi Noem explains criteria for National Guard deployment as Senate debates border

Noem reluctant to send troops who help facilitate entry into country

PIERRE – Texas border politics returned to South Dakota’s capital Thursday, as Gov. Kristi Noem laid out in greater detail conditions under which she might send National Guard troops to assist that state’s record influx of foreign migrants.

Meanwhile, the South Dakota Senate debated a resolution urging the state’s congressional delegation to work with the Biden Administration in solving the border crisis. The debate pitted the Senate’s two party leaders against each other.

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Noem has already deployed South Dakota National Guard units to the border three times since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott first asked for assistance three years ago as migration surged following the election of Joe Biden. Two of those deployments included ground units and another was a reconnaissance helicopter unit.

The two ground deployments saw troops used mainly in an observational capacity. They were able to report instances when they suspected an immigrant might be engaging in drug or human trafficking. But often those troops were reporting movements of migrants to Border Patrol. Once detained by Border Patrol, they were turned over to Non-Governmental Organizations who then transported them into the country.

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