Gov. Kristi Noem's border bet pays off

Nomination to President-elect Trump's cabinet comes after months of national security messaging by South Dakota Republican

(Jonathan Ellis/The Dakota Scout)

In January, Gov. Kristi Noem called state lawmakers and ranking officials into the House chamber at the State Capitol for a special address.

The topic? Border security.

“I don’t want South Dakota soldiers to facilitate an invasion – I want them to stand up and stop it,” the governor declared to lawmakers, just days after the federal government criticized Texas for its strict border enforcement measures. She urged the Legislature to adopt resolutions acknowledging the “crisis” at the southern border. 

Now, Noem’s border bet is paying off. 

She is President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the advancement of his most prominent policy goal: securing the porous southern border and deporting millions of immigrants who have entered the country illegally.

That winter speech was part of Noem’s steady rise on the national political scene, which began with her go-it-alone stance on COVID-19 pandemic response measures. And as the notoriety that came with refusing to shut down an outdoor motorcycle rally and order lockdowns and mask mandates waned, the policies the 52-year-old Castlewood native most aggressively pushed did, too.

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