South Dakota is the latest state to send its residents to the U.S.-Mexico border to help overwhelmed federal and local law enforcement respond to sustained high levels of illegal immigration.
But unlike Nebraska and Florida, which sent state troopers and local police officers to Texas earlier this month, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will send in the National Guard so as not to risk a decline in public safety in her state.
“The Biden Administration has failed in the basic duty of the federal government: keeping the American people safe,” Noem, a Republican, said in a statement issued Tuesday. “The border is a national security crisis that requires the kind of sustained response only the National Guard can provide. We should not be making our communities less safe by sending our police or Highway Patrol to fix a long-term problem President Biden’s Administration seems unable or unwilling to solve. My message to Texas is this: help is on the way.”
Up to 50 South Dakota National Guard troops will be sent to the southern border for 30 to 60 days. Their duties have yet to be determined, Noem said. The deployment is also unusual in that it is being funded by a private donation. Republican megadonors Willis and Reba Johnson made an unspecified gift to the state through their foundation, Business Insider reported. Willis Johnson made his billions of dollars through Copart, an automotive salvage and auction company.
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The move comes two weeks after Republican Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona asked the other 48 governors to consider sending their police to help overwhelmed local and federal departments.
More than two dozen Nebraska State Patrol officers will travel approximately 900 miles south to Del Rio, Texas, this month to assist Texas Department of Public Safety officers for an estimated 16 days, Gov. Pete Ricketts said last week. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, deployed state officers to Texas last week.
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Out-of-state law enforcement officers, as well as those in Arizona and Texas, will have broader policing authorities and be able to arrest noncitizens who come across the border on trespassing charges and human smuggling charges. Normally, only federal authorities such as the Border Patrol can arrest people for immigration offenses, but the two governors expanded arrest authorities by declaring a disaster and emergency. However, the military does not have the authority to make arrests.
