South Dakota Gov. Noem banned from reservation lands by multiple tribal nations

South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem has been banned from reservation lands by multiple tribal nations due to her remarks on immigration and crime. 

The Oglala Sioux Tribe was the first tribe to ban Noem from their land, citing that they didn't like how she referred to the surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border as an "invasion."

“Calling the United States’ southern border in Texas an ‘invasion’ by illegal immigrants and criminal groups to justify sending S.D. National Guard troops there is a red herring that the Oglala Sioux Tribe doesn’t support,” the leader of the tribe said in February. 

Noem didn't back down on her comments about illegal immigration and argued that Native American tribes were negatively impacted by the situation at the border, according to The Hill.

Other tribes that banned Noem from their land include the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe said Noem's relationship with the tribes has not been good ever since she took office.

“Governor Noem claims she wants to establish meaningful relationships with Tribes to improve solutions for systemic problems,” the Rosebud Sioux Tribe said, according to The Hill. “However, her actions as Governor blatantly show otherwise.”

Noem sent a statement to The Hill, in which she urged tribal leaders to “immediately banish the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for murders, rapes, drug addiction, and many more crimes on tribal lands.”

“The people in the communities live with unspeakable horrors and tragedy every day, but banishing me for telling the truth about the suffering does nothing to solve the problems,” her statement reads. “It may play well for the leftist media, but in reality, it’s pointless.”

“The real question you should be asking," she added, "is: ‘Why won’t tribal leaders banish the Mexican drug cartels who are responsible for this devastation?’”