South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem announced Tuesday that she was sending 50 state National Guard members to Texas to help Governor Greg Abbott with his border problem.
Noem has gone to new heights, though, using her state’s National Guard as her own personal security force that can be rented out for a private donation.
Noem has one-upped all the Trumpers out there, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is sending 50 state police, and Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who have both promised to help by sending state police.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s plan to fund his own border wall using $250 million in state funds, plus whatever he can crowdsource from donors has been described as political theater, according to the Associated Press.
Now, keep in mind that Abbott is already facing a number of legal challenges to his border barrier, so sending in out-of-state police forces and a state’s National Guard may be questionable, on many levels.
The Hill is reporting that Republicans have seized on the border crossings in recent months, blaming President Jow Biden and his administration for failing to adequately secure the border.
Yet, families and children traveling to border crossings without their parents have dropped in the last two months, and most people crossing the border seek out a Border Patrol agent and turn themselves in.
Do we have a problem at the border? Yes, we do. But what Noem is doing is so very wrong in so many ways. She has rented out the National Guard to a private entity. Someone who is unknown to the public at this point, and for a donation she refuses to talk about.
And Rob Port, writing for The Dickinson Press notes that Noem’s move is setting a dangerous precedent. And understanjding that we do have a problem at the border, and that many people may be politically aligned with Noem, he asks a question:
“Would you feel the same way if it were a Democratic governor? Accepting private dollars to deploy state military resources in pursuit of some left-wing policy priority?”
As Port points out – Politics should not enter into this discussion, and “this is a door we cannot allow to be opened.”
Port adds, “We do not want to empower politicians to use the military or police forces they command as private forces for lease. If an elected leader is going to use police or military power, it should be wielded only in the public’s interest and paid for only by the public.”
Not only does what Mr. Port is saying make good sense, but letting this move by Noem be allowed is opening this country up to a terrible precedent – where any governor, regardless of his or her politics – or, for that matter, the president, could establish martial law. God forbid.
