{"id":40489,"date":"2026-10-20T22:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T03:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/rhoden-extends-ice-assistance\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T22:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T03:50:19","slug":"rhoden-extends-ice-assistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/rhoden-extends-ice-assistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhoden extends ICE assistance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden (Courtesy photo)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

PIERRE\u2014Gov. Larry Rhoden has extended the deployment of seven South Dakota National Guard soldiers assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for another year, keeping the small contingent on duty through Sept. 30, 2027.<\/p>\n

Three soldiers are stationed in Sioux Falls, three in Rapid City and one serves in an administrative position. The federal government will pay the cost of the deployment.<\/p>\n

According to the governor\u2019s office, the Guard has assisted ICE with the deportation of 1,013 illegal aliens since the deployment began in July 2025. The soldiers are not described as conducting immigration raids or making street arrests. Their primary role has been processing arrest and deportation paperwork, allowing ICE officers to remain in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur guardsmen, troopers, and corrections officers have delivered exceptional results as they work to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free,\u201d Rhoden said. \u201cTheir efforts are getting illegal alien criminals off our streets and making our state and nation safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The extension is part of a much broader partnership between the Rhoden administration and the Trump administration on immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n

Rhoden also announced that the South Dakota Highway Patrol will receive approximately $480,000 in additional federal funding for troopers participating in ICE\u2019s 287(g) program. The Highway Patrol received $150,418 earlier this summer. The money will support payroll, specialized field equipment and information technology.<\/p>\n

The 287(g) program authorizes trained state and local officers to perform limited immigration-enforcement duties under ICE supervision. Thirty-eight South Dakota troopers now participate. The governor\u2019s office said troopers have assisted in 261 immigration-related arrests after encountering people unlawfully in the country during routine patrols.<\/p>\n

The Department of Corrections has also paroled 38 inmates directly into ICE custody, with four more approved for transfer. Rhoden\u2019s office estimates that removing each inmate from state custody saves South Dakota taxpayers more than $34,000 annually.<\/p>\n

South Dakota Democrats had not issued a public response to Monday\u2019s extension when this article was prepared. They did, however, strongly oppose the original deployment and the related Operation Prairie Thunder initiative in July 2025.<\/p>\n

House Democratic Leader Erin Healy of Sioux Falls argued then that state troopers, corrections employees and Guard personnel were being drawn away from South Dakota priorities to carry out a federal immigration agenda. She said immigrants fill important jobs in agriculture, health care, food processing and small businesses, and warned that using state officers for immigration enforcement damages trust between immigrant communities and law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Healy called the operation \u201cnot about safety\u2014it\u2019s about fear and is a political stunt.\u201d Democrats also argued that South Dakota should concentrate its limited resources on workforce shortages, health care, infrastructure and local public safety.<\/p>\n

That criticism carries less weight where federal money covers the direct cost, but it leaves unanswered questions that the governor\u2019s announcement does not address. The state provided totals for deportations and arrests, but no breakdown showing how many involved violent offenders, other convicted criminals, people detained only for unlawful presence, or travelers merely passing through South Dakota.<\/p>\n

Rhoden views the numbers as evidence that the partnership is working. Democrats see the same operation as state participation in an unnecessarily broad federal crackdown. Extending the deployment another year ensures that argument will continue along with it.<\/p>\n

(James Giago Davies is an enrolled member of OST. Contact him at skindiesel@msn.com).<\/p>\n

The post Rhoden extends ICE assistance<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden (Courtesy photo) PIERRE\u2014Gov. Larry Rhoden has extended the deployment of seven South Dakota National Guard soldiers assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for another year, keeping the small contingent on duty through Sept. 30, 2027. Three soldiers are stationed in Sioux Falls, three in Rapid <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> October 20, 2026<\/p>\n

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