South Dakota will be sending additional National Guard troops to the southern border as the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border continues to overwhelm law enforcement.
GOP Gov. Kristi Noem approved the deployment of about 125 members of the state’s National Guard on Wednesday, less than two weeks after she agreed to send 50 members of the South Dakota National Guard originally.
“Our South Dakota National Guard is the very best in the country, and they are prepared for the sustained response the national security crisis at our southern border requires,” the governor said in a statement. “I am hopeful that this mission indicates the Biden Administration is waking up to the devastating situation at the border.”
NEW INCREASE IN MIGRANT CHILDREN AT BORDER FIVE MONTHS INTO BIDEN TENURE
The soldiers are members of the South Dakota National Guard’s 1742nd Transportation Company, and they are stationed in Sioux Falls and Flandreau. The soldiers will be deployed for anywhere from nine months to a year.
Noem, per her office, agreed to deploy the officers after a request from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Guard Bureau. As their deployment was following a federal request, the federal government will fund the costs, according to Noem’s communications director Ian Fury.
The first deployment that Noem ordered on June 29 was funded by Republican megadonors Willis and Reba Johnson.
Rep. Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, was among those who criticized Noem’s decision to use a private contribution to fund the deployment. He called the move “unbelievably dangerous” and said the U.S. military should not be treated like a “private militia.”
Fury, when previously asked about the legality of the funding, referred the Washington Examiner to laws SDCL 5-23-12 and SDCL-48A-36. The first law allows the governor to receive a gift, including money, even if there is a “pre-existing condition” as long as it is in “the best interest of the state,” while the latter specifically allows the governor to do it should it be in the name of “emergency management.”
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South Dakota is one of seven states that have sent officials to the border, including North Dakota, Ohio, Florida, Nebraska, Iowa, and Arkansas.
Illegal immigration at the southern border in March hit the highest level in more than two decades. Those levels continued to grow in both April and in May as more than 180,000 people attempted to enter the country between ports of entry or were denied at those border crossings.
