PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem once again traveled to the US-Mexico border and once again came back to the state and lambasted the federal government and tribes, telling them to do more to crack down on cartel activity.
Governor Noem is back in South Dakota after visiting 20 deployed South Dakota National Guard members in Texas, who have been helping construct barriers on the southern border. Noem said inaction from the federal government has allowed cartels and dangerous drugs to enter the country in greater numbers.
“The drug cartels and their affiliates, and their criminal activity, have made all of our communities unsafe,” Noem said. “If we cannot stop the flow of drugs and the movement of this activity on federal lands that are under federal jurisdiction, something is very wrong with our current system.”
Noem again referenced a group called the “Ghost Dancers,” an alleged affiliation with the Banditos, an outlaw motorcycle gang. She said tribal leaders have let their guard down and allowed cartels to establish roots on their lands.
“I know that many people said that I shouldn’t have said the name of the gang, but I did not name the gang. They named themselves, they wear the patches proudly. It is a matter of fact in investigations,” Noem said.
During the press conference, Tribal Relations Department Secretary David Flute read off comments, allegedly from indigenous people from multiple reservations, frustrated with their own tribal leadership.
“Take it from the hundreds of calls, emails and text messages that our administration has received from folks on tribal reservations, asking the governor and supporting the governor’s work,” Flute said.
Newly-appointed Tribal Law Enforcement Liason Algin Young said the state is reaching out to offer mutual aid agreements to tribes. This would allow the state to coordinate with those governments and provide funding and more officers from across the state.
“I’ve testified in front of the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs about the drug crimes that impact our reservations,” Young said.
Noem once again said all of this has turned South Dakota into a border state, saying that every day the threat to residents here increases.
“We will step up, and we will continue to protect and do our role to protect the people of South Dakota and make sure that they are as safe as possible,” Noem said. “Those failed border policies of President Biden have turned South Dakota into a border state, and we’ve seen the effects here every single day with the crime and the violence.”
Noem also spoke directly to South Dakota’s tribes, questioning the ban on her but accusing them of not doing enough to curtail cartel activity on their own lands.