BURLINGAME, Calif.—South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem reiterated her claims that Mexican drug cartels are operating on tribal land outside of her jurisdiction in South Dakota.
“They have set up on my tribal reservations, and they are proliferating their drug trafficking, their human trafficking, they are raping our children and our women, right in South Dakota,” the Republican state executive said on May 18 at the California GOP’s 2024 Spring meeting, held at a Hyatt Regency not far from the San Francisco International Airport.
“They’re doing it protected by the federal government, because the federal government refuses to bring law and order to those communities and keep people safe,” added Ms. Noem, who has sometimes been discussed as a vice presidential prospect for former President Donald J. Trump.
Ms. Noem’s comments come several weeks after a House subcommittee hearing in which Native American leaders discussed the drug cartel activity in their communities.
It’s an extension of a long-running trend.
In April of this year, a man from El Salvador, a man from Guatemala, and a woman from Greeley, Colorado, were sentenced to prison in connection with the armed kidnapping of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, located in South Dakota.
Yet, tribal leaders in the state, including of Pine Ridge and the Rosebud Indian Reservation, have taken issue with Ms. Noem’s comments. Eight out of nine tribal governments have endorsed her banishment from their lands.
“I’m really curious about the dog,” he said.
Ms. Noem only indirectly addressed the dog story during her speech.
“I have a book that has come out and maybe you’ve heard a little bit about it,” she said. “I guarantee you if you listened to the media, you haven’t heard the truth, so I would recommend you read it.”