South Dakota
Migrant crisis: Noem sends National Guard to southern border's 'warzone'
FIRST ON FOX — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem announced Tuesday that she will deploy additional National Guard troops to the southern border later this spring.
This new deployment, Noem’s fifth since 2021, is intended to support Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s efforts to respond to the ongoing illegal immigrant crisis, including through the use of barbed wire and security personnel. The governor is sending 60 South Dakota National Guard soldiers on a rolling basis over three months.
“The border is a warzone, so we’re sending soldiers,” Noem said in a statement. “These soldiers’ primary mission will be construction of a wall to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, drug cartels, and human trafficking into the United States of America.”
Noem previewed the troop deployment in an address to a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature late last month. In remarks delivered after she visited Eagle Pass, Texas, in January, Noem decried an “invasion” at the border and urged all 50 states to join forces to repel Mexican drug cartels.
LARGE MAJORITY OF ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSING SHIFT TO ARIZONA AND CALIFORNIA, PIVOTING AWAY FROM TEXAS
Gov. Kristi Noem visits the southern border at Eagle Pass, Texas, on Jan. 29, 2024. After witnessing conditions in Texas, Noem returned to South Dakota and declared the U.S.-Mexico border a “warzone.” (Office of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem)
“The United States of America is in a time of invasion,” Noem said. “The invasion is coming over our southern border. The 50 states have a common enemy, and that enemy is the Mexican drug cartels. They are waging war against our nation, and these cartels are perpetuating violence in each of our states, even right here in South Dakota.”
Her address came after South Dakota’s legislature became the first in the nation to pass a resolution of support for Texas that declared, “protection of our nation’s borders from invasion is fundamental to the security, prosperity, and sovereignty of the nation.”
Noem has deployed South Dakota National Guard troops four times previously to the border, including last year, and she has visited several times, most recently on Jan. 26. Other Republican governors have deployed troops and visited the border too, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In 2021, Noem drew criticism for accepting a $1 million donation offered by a wealthy Republican donor to help cover the cost of a two-month deployment of 48 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas.
SUPREME COURT SIDES WITH BIDEN IN TEXAS BORDER RAZOR WIRE CASE; BORDER PATROL UNION BLASTS DECISION
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem surveys the southern border with National Guard troops at McAllen, Texas, on July 26, 2021. (Office of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem)
Between Dec. 1 and 31, more than 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border.
It is the highest total for a single month ever recorded. It is also the first time migrant encounters have exceeded 300,000.
Sources with U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Fox News that over the last week of January, Border Patrol apprehended 32,809 illegal immigrants.
The overwhelming influx of illegal immigrants across the southern border has put a strain on states like Texas and led to accusations from Republicans that the Biden administration is not enforcing the law. Abbot has cracked down on the border with state personnel, clashing with Biden officials who say he is overstepping federal authority to enforce immigration law.
BORDER PATROL UNION RIPS BIDEN OVER BORDER CRISIS: ‘YOU OWN THIS CATASTROPHIC DISASTER’
Groups of migrants of different nationalities arrive at the Rio Grande to cross it and surrender to the American authorities, since elements of the Texas National Guard no longer prevent their passage in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico on Feb. 19, 2024. (Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The U.S. Supreme Court last month sided with the Biden administration against Texas in a case involving barbed wire fencing Abbott had installed along the border with Mexico.
In court papers, the Biden administration argued that the wire impedes Border Patrol agents from reaching migrants as they cross the river and that, in any case, federal immigration laws trumps Texas’ efforts to stem the flow of migrants into the country.
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Most of the razor wire is deployed in the Shelby Park area of Eagle Pass. It is owned by the city but was recently seized by the State of Texas. Federal Border Patrol agents have been blocked from the park since then, a move the Border Patrol Union publicly supports.
The litigation is one of several legal challenges in federal court by the Biden administration over Texas’ border enforcement policies, including floating barriers on the Rio Grande as well as trespassing arrests and incarceration of illegal immigrants by the state. Those cases have yet to reach the Supreme Court.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin, Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz, Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 4, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from March 4 drawing
07-14-42-47-56, Powerball: 06, Power Play: 4
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Lotto America numbers from March 4 drawing
33-38-39-47-51, Star Ball: 07, ASB: 02
Check Lotto America payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Dakota Cash numbers from March 4 drawing
02-18-22-30-32
Check Dakota Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 4 drawing
12-13-36-39-58, Bonus: 03
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
PIERRE — A bill from South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley to criminalize the creation or sharing of deepfakes was amended this week to more clearly define what constitutes nudity before it reaches Gov. Larry Rhoden’s desk.
The amendment, added on the floor of the House of Representatives, came in response to concerns about unintended consequences.
Senate Bill 41 creates a class of felony crime for the creation or distribution of images digitally altered to depict a person in a state of nudity or involved in a sexually explicit act, commonly referred to as deepfakes.
In testimony in the House Judiciary Committee on Monday in Pierre, Jackley pointed to the case of Mark Rathbun, a former Division of Motor Vehicles employee who is accused of taking images of women and girls from state databases and creating sexual images.“This is real, and it’s something that we unfortunately are seeing happen in our state,” Jackley said.
The judiciary committee voted 8-3 to send the bill to the House floor but not before a discussion on its potential to criminalize political memes.
The bill’s definition of nudity originally encompassed a partial state of nudity. Fort Pierre Republican Rep. Will Mortenson asked Jackley if that would include a fabricated topless photo. Jackley said yes. Then Mortenson asked if a fabricated image of Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker without a shirt, if shared by President Donald Trump on social media, would put the president in line for felony charges.
Jackley said a Pritzker image wouldn’t qualify because Pritzker is male, but Mortenson pushed back.
He noted that partially nude fabrications would be a felony if done with the intent to “self-gratify or alarm, annoy, embarrass, harass, invade the privacy of, threaten, or cause emotional, financial, physical, psychological, or reputational harm to that individual.”
Nothing in the bill specified that a person in a digitally fabricated topless image must be female.
“We just said that half-nude is a state of nudity, and so now he’s shirtless, and the point of this is to embarrass this guy,” Mortenson said of his topless Pritzker meme scenario.
Mortenson voted against the bill in committee but brought an amendment Tuesday to define nudity as inclusive of male or female genitalia, buttocks or the female nipple.
The amendment passed, but it did not address every concern about the bill.
Democratic Rep. Kadyn Wittman of Sioux Falls asked Jackley during the bill’s committee hearing why he didn’t use it to enhance penalties for people who film others in states of undress or participating in sexual activity against their will.
That behavior is a felony if it involves the recording of a minor, or if it happens repeatedly. The new penalties for deepfakes would be added to the same chapter of South Dakota law.
“Why is the first time hidden recording a misdemeanor generally, but a digitally fabricated image would automatically be a classified felony,” said Wittman.
Jackley said he feels that the creation of digitally manipulated sexual images, even if they aren’t shared, signals “significant criminal intent.” He told South Dakota Searchlight after the committee meeting that he’s open to addressing that issue, but that SB 41’s primary purpose was to target deepfakes.
On the House floor, Wittman was one of two representatives to say the bill’s felony penalties could be unnecessarily harsh in instances where young people make “a stupid decision” and create a deepfake.
“I feel like, in a lot of situations, this bill covers behavior that could be covered by a lower level of offense,” Wittman said.
Supporters countered that the creation of fake nudes can do real psychological damage to real people, and that the state needs to clearly signal that doing so is a serious crime.
“It’s only fun and games until it happens to you,” said Rep. Mary Fitzgerald, R-St. Onge.
The bill passed the House 60-6. It now moves to the state Senate, which passed the bill 32-0 on Jan. 16. The Senate would need to approve the amended version of the bill before it could be delivered to Gov. Larry Rhoden to sign or veto.
The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at March 3, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from March 3 drawing
07-21-53-54-62, Mega Ball: 16
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 3 drawing
09-10-13-25-54, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize
- Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
- Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
- Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.
When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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