Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said Tuesday she will be deploying National Guard troops to Texas to help its governor, Republican Greg Abbott, deal with a "war zone" at the southern border.
"The border is a war zone, so we're sending soldiers," Noem said in a news release. "These soldiers' primary mission will be construction of a wall to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, drug cartels, and human trafficking into the United States of America."
Noem, considered a candidate to be former President Donald Trump's running mate in November's election, said 60 National Guard troops will be sent to Texas on a rolling basis over a three-month period. Further details were not available in the news release because of "security considerations."
Last month, Noem and the South Dakota Legislature held a joint session in response to Texas' efforts to secure the border amid threats from the Biden administration, which states it alone has sole authority over the nation's border security.
The Supreme Court ruled last month that Border Patrol agents could cut down razor wire put up by Texas National Guard troops, and there have been calls by Democrats for Biden to federalize Texas' National Guard, which continues to erect razor wire barriers.
"Our troops have been hampered by federal restrictions when they've been deployed to the border in the past," Noem told her Legislature in the joint session. "I don't want South Dakota soldiers to facilitate an invasion — I want them to stand up and stop it. So, we are talking to Texas about what rules of engagement can look like to make sure that happens."
This is the fifth time in 2 1/2 years that Noem is sending National Guardsmen to assist Texas. Republican governors in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia reportedly also have sent National Guard troops to Texas and Idaho has twice sent teams of State Police troopers to the southern border.
On Thursday, Republican Louisiana Gov. Greg Landry said he will deploy National Guard troops to Texas.
There were 176,205 encounters at the southern border in January, the lowest total for a month since February 2023, according to Customs and Border Protection data. That came on the heels of a reported 301,983 encounters in December, which was a record for any month in U.S. history. The U.S. is on pace for a record of more than 2.8 million encounters for the 2024 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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