A Native American tribe in South Dakota lifted its banishment on Republican Gov. Kristi Noem in a letter Wednesday, providing its endorsement of her nomination to function secretary of Homeland Security, Fox News Digital has realized.
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe President Tony Reider wrote a letter to Noem Wednesday informing her the tribe’s govt committee voted to “take away the banishment” it positioned on Noem in May and congratulated her for her nomination to serve in President-elect Trump’s cupboard.
The letter comes simply days earlier than Noem is scheduled to seem earlier than the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for her affirmation listening to.
“I commend you in your nomination by President Elect Donald Trump to the place of Secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and hereby assist your nomination. I want you the very best of luck throughout the Senate affirmation listening to on January 17, 2025, and consider that your dedication to the security and safety of the United States will profit us all,” Reider’s letter states, in response to a duplicate obtained by Fox News Digital.
SOUTH DAKOTA GOV. NOEM BANNED FROM TRIBAL RESERVATION OVER REMARKS ON US SOUTHERN BORDER
Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota and President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of Homeland Security, arrives for a gathering with Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., not pictured, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Dec. 11, 2024. (Getty Images)
All 9 native tribes in South Dakota banned Noem from their reservations final yr after outrage over her suggestion that tribal leaders profit from cartels and the immigration disaster and feedback relating to native kids’s futures. The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe was the final tribe to ban her.
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“Their youngsters don’t have any hope. They don’t have mother and father who present up and assist them. They have a tribal council or a president who focuses on a political agenda greater than they care about really serving to anyone’s life look higher,” Noem stated final yr in a remark that drew criticism from tribes.
Reider addressed the difficulty in his letter to Noem Wednesday, explaining that the governor has apologized for her earlier remarks and defined her commentary.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks earlier than former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, takes the stage throughout a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, March 16, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP by way of Getty Images)
“One of the stipulations contained within the banishment decision was that you simply apologize for the feedback that have been made relating to tribal members and the schooling of tribal member kids which have been deemed offensive by some. In a number of conferences earlier than and after the decision was handed, you not solely defined your place, however apologized if the feedback offended the Tribe. You moreover sought recommendation on phrase such communications transferring ahead, which the Tribe and I appreciated,” Reider wrote.
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Badlands National Park in South Dakota (Bernie Friel/UCG/Universal Images Group by way of Getty Images)
The letter comes as Noem prepares for her Senate confirmation hearing Friday morning.
Trump introduced Noem as his choose to guide DHS shortly after his decisive win over Kamala Harris, citing the Republican governor’s efforts to safe the southern border, which has been overwhelmed by unlawful crossings below the Biden administration.
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In the months since her nomination, Noem has picked up endorsements from a minimum of eight police teams or unions, together with a union that represents 1000’s of Border Patrol brokers.
Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry additionally known as on Senate lawmakers, most notably Democrats, to swiftly affirm Noem after a terrorist assault that shook New Orleans on New Year’s Day.
The International Association of Fire Fighters, a big, traditionally Democratic firefighter union, additionally just lately endorsed Noem, arguing throughout the raging wildfires in Los Angeles she “understands emergency administration and the significance of presidency response to emergencies each pure and man-made.”
