Following her recent remarks expressing a desire to deploy razor wire and security personnel to Texas in an effort to address immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Republican Governor Kristi Noem has been barred from the Pine Ridge Reservation by a South Dakota tribe.

The decision comes in response to Noem’s statements suggesting that cartels are infiltrating the state’s reservations.

“Due to the safety of the Oyate, effective immediately, you are hereby Banished from the homelands of the Oglala Sioux Tribe!” Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said in a Friday statement, Politico reported.

Accusing Governor Kristi Noem of attempting to leverage the border issue to aid former U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election and enhance her chances of becoming his running mate, Star Comes Out highlighted concerns.

The tribal leader emphasized that many individuals arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border are Indigenous people from regions like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico, seeking job opportunities and a better life.

In response to Noem’s recent statements about the Ghost Dancers gang allegedly associated with border-crossing cartels operating on South Dakota reservations, Star Comes Out expressed deep offense.

He clarified that the Ghost Dance holds significant cultural and spiritual importance for the Oglala Sioux, serving as one of their most sacred ceremonies, Politico reports.

Star Comes Out asserted that Noem’s reference to the Ghost Dance was disrespectful and insulting to their tribe.

Furthermore, Star Comes Out emphasized the sovereignty of the tribe, asserting that it is a separate and independent nation, not under the jurisdiction of the state of South Dakota.

Written by B.C. Begley