Build the Wall
By: Gov. Kristi Noem
August 16, 2024
“We don’t complain about things – we fix them.” When my dad taught me that, he was talking about cows, horses, fences, and ranch chores, not the wide-open Southern Border. But the lesson holds true.
The truth is, we could complain about President Joe Biden and Vice President (and Border Czar) Kamala Harris’s failures at the Southern Border until the cows come home. Instead of complaining, South Dakota is doing our part to fix it.
We recently welcomed home our seventh detachment of South Dakota National Guard troops to the border. The last few groups have all had the mission of working with Texas to construct the border wall. We sent an engineering company – we sent builders.
South Dakota guardsmen constructed more than five miles of border wall. They fortified 20 miles-worth of wall with concertina wire. And they repaired 46 breaches in the crucial area between Del Rio and Eagle Pass, TX.
I spent a day with them helping them build the wall – it wasn’t easy work. They had to clear miles of rough ground in 100-degree heat and Texas humidity before they could get to work on barrier construction. But they were glad to do it in service to our country.
These brave soldiers were more than 1,000 miles from home. Their work was crucial to keep South Dakota – and every other state – safe. The sad reality is that due to the incompetence and mismanagement of our border, every state is now a border state.
When we control the border with physical barriers, we make it tougher for cartels to facilitate their drugs and human trafficking into our country. We funnel the traffickers towards areas where we have a stronger presence. And if anyone does try to breach the barrier, we give law enforcement and Border Patrol precious time to respond. That’s just common sense – but the Biden Administration abandoned common sense when they stopped constructing the wall.
South Dakota will continue to do this work – but we shouldn’t have to. President Biden and Vice President Harris are leaving the border wide open on purpose. Texas is working with South Dakota and other states to pick up the slack.
We will continue to do our part. We have another group of South Dakota National Guard soldiers scheduled to deploy to the Southern Border on a federal activation later this Fall. And we will continue to do everything we can to mitigate the cartels’ influence here at home.
I have seen such incredible patriotism and leadership from the South Dakota National Guard troops that we’ve deployed to the border over the years. The commander of the most recent detachments was a young female lieutenant who is working on her PhD in Animal Science at SDSU, meanwhile she is also an ROTC instructor. She’s a leader. She’s getting results. I wish that I could say the same about our current “leadership” in the White House.
In the meantime, we won’t complain about things. We’ll continue to fix them. If the Biden-Harris Administration won’t build the wall, we will. We will continue to do everything we can to keep our people safe.
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When I was in Basic training in 1970 Fort Campbell, Kentucky we had SIX men from Porto Rico..Only three could speak English..During the 8 weeks I talked with them several times.. They told me that they were ALL from Very POOR families. Their enlistment Guaranteed FULL AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP when they completed the 3 years in the Army..All of them planned to use their G.I. BILL OF RIGHTS to get an Education..
We had 227 men in our company that the Sargents when they gave us orders the (3) Three that spoke English would translate orders to the other three of the Sargents Commands. Needless to say they all Spoke excellent English after the 8 weeks of Basic.. Don’t know what happened to them but they were All Patriots and PROUD to be in the United States.. I often hope and pray they all made it..
Maybe something todays military could do to increase enlistments..
No matter what we were and would forever be VETERANS FOREVER..
FORT CAMPBELL KENTUCKY….HOME OF THE 101st AIRBORNE..
Those first few months we all made about a total of $98.00 Ninety eight dollars per month AFTER TAXES..
I actually sent money home to my mother..FACT..It was there for me when I got home to buy a car..
I grew up poor too.. a South Dakota farm kid..Most of my family served in WW I WW II Korea Vietnam I lost 2 Cousins both were 22 years old when they were Killed..Both were NAVY….Their fathers both had served in WW II…One Army and one Marine..
FREEDOM COMES AT A COST…IT IS NOT FREE..
thank you. your story is the heart and soul of the u-s i grew up in, the u-s i believe works best today, and the u-s we need to be for future generations in both political parties.
all the people whipping up anti-immigrant race hatred for election-time voter energy, never seem to see the damage in all the vitriol and hate they leave simmering in their wake after the win.
So…how many are going to come live with you so you can provide for them or let camp in your yard? 2, 4, 10, or 0?
How many days have you spent actively patrolling the border with Mexico?
That’s how stupid your critique is.
OK Larry…
I don’t have to spend any time on the border to know that illegal immigration is a huge problem. But my guess is that you haven’t spent anytime patrolling the border either but refuse to see the problem and pass it off as politics/racism/xenophobia. You and people like the idiot below (enquirocrat) think that the gates should be left open to one and all…as long as the illegals are in someone else’s backyard and someone else’s problem to deal with.
So, I ask once again to you and all the other hypocrites, how many are you going to let live with you, how many are you going to let camp in your yard, how many are you going to personally support and provide for?
Go protect the border yourself or shut up. YOU dont have to give up any time or risk for your demands. Again, your critique is stupid.
i see my point is proved. i think it will take trump’s krystalnacht mass arrest-deportation to create the gaping holes of missing economic activity and tax revenues from the missing workforce segment, to illustrate what they did provide in the us economy. i’m sure some bright young MAGA star has already gamed out who to blame for that after-effect.
Would Kristi Noem (or maybe Skippy) making a comment “We don’t complain about things…we fix them” be considered a oxymoron?