South Dakota
Thune: Immigration deal 'at a critical moment' – South Dakota Searchlight
WASHINGTON — Top U.S. Senate negotiators said Thursday that final details on an immigration policy deal remain under debate in the U.S. Senate, despite outside pressure from GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump to sink any agreement as he makes immigration his central campaign message.
The No. 2 Senate Republican and GOP whip, Sen. John Thune, said that negotiations on an immigration deal tied to the passage of a multi-billion-dollar global securities supplemental package are at “a critical moment, and we’ve got to drive hard to get this done.”
“If we can’t get there, then we’ll go to Plan B,” the South Dakota Republican said.
He did not go into details on what a “Plan B” would look like or if a deal on immigration would be removed from the supplemental, which would provide critical aid to Ukraine that some Republican and Democratic senators are advocating as the country runs low on ammunition in its war with Russia.
Funding seen as a last hurdle to final U.S. Senate immigration deal
Like in his first presidential campaign, Trump has made immigration a main theme, often referring to migrants claiming asylum at the Southern border as an “invasion.” On his social media site, Truth Social, he has urged congressional Republicans to not accept a deal.
During a closed-door meeting on Wednesday night, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky acknowledged the difficulty of passing an immigration bill and the potential it would undermine Trump, the top Republican negotiator of the deal, Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, told reporters at the Capitol.
But Lankford disputed that McConnell’s comments, which were first reported by Punchbowl News, meant a deal on immigration would be killed so that Trump can attack President Joe Biden on the issue.
“McConnell was laying out the political realities of where things are, and it was the elephant-in-the-room conversation,” Lankford said. “We’re in a political election season.”
But Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, a longtime Trump critic, told CNN that “the fact that (Trump) would communicate to Republican senators and Congress people that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem, but basically wants to blame Biden for it — this is really appalling.”
Lankford said that he has not talked to Trump in months and that he, along with the bipartisan group of senators working on the border deal — Sens. Chris Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, and Kyrsten Sinema, independent of Arizona — are still moving forward.
“It’s now the end of January, in the middle of the presidential primary season, so I think that’s the shift that has occurred that he’s just acknowledging,” Lankford said of McConnell. Trump on Tuesday sailed to victory in the New Hampshire presidential primary, following his victory in the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, with former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley his sole major remaining opponent.
It’s also unclear whether any eventual Senate deal will survive in the House, as GOP Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana is demanding hard-line House immigration legislation be adopted and is moving forward with impeachment proceedings for U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his immigration policies.
Johnson has also thrown his support behind Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is defying U.S. Supreme Court orders and the White House in keeping and installing razor wire along the Texas-Mexico border.
Parole targeted
While no framework or bill text of a Senate deal has been released, some of the proposals put forth would curb the Biden administration’s use of parole authority, which the administration has heavily relied on to grant temporary protections to migrants by allowing them to live and work in the United States without visas.
The Biden administration has invoked its parole authority more often than previous administrations to manage the large number of migrants at the Southern border, according to data compiled by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, which compiles immigration data.
The deal is also likely to make changes to asylum law that would raise the bar for migrants claiming asylum.
Biden says he’s ‘ready to act’ on ‘significant’ changes at the border, including asylum
For four months, Lankford, Sinema, and Murphy have worked to strike a deal with the White House to free up more than $100 billion in supplemental global security aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and for U.S. border security.
Senate Republicans have hinged their support for the global supplemental package on immigration policy changes.
If passed, it would be the most substantial change to immigration law in 30 years.
Whether a deal passes is up to Republicans, Murphy said.
“We have negotiated a border policy package, we did what Republicans asked us to do, and now they seem to be having a hard time actually closing the deal,” he said.
Murphy said that the negotiators have an outline that appropriators are considering. He added that he’s not sure if aid to Ukraine would be unlinked to changes in immigration policy.
“I think what is very scary to some Republicans is that the deal we have reached will actually fix a big part of the problem, and I know for Donald Trump and some Republicans, it’s not in their best interest for there to be policy changes that actually fix the broken asylum system, or give the president new tools to better manage the border,” Murphy said.
Sen. Steve Daines, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP campaign arm, said that he has not spoken to Trump about the immigration deal.
“It seems to me quite ironic that folks are blaming Trump for the border deal when this is Biden who created the problem and can solve the problem unilaterally through executive action,” the Montana Republican said.
South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump supporter, said that he’s talked to the former president and has “told him what we’re trying to accomplish,” but declined to answer questions if the deal could be passed without Trump’s approval.
Some Republicans reluctant to wait
Despite the push from Trump to quash the talks, some Senate Republicans said that they have an obligation to address the Southern border.
GOP Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who endorsed Trump earlier this week, said that “Texas can’t afford to wait 11 months,” referring to a potential second Trump presidency in 2025.
With GOP pushing hard on immigration, parole emerges as a make-or-break issue in Congress
“Some people have said, well, the (immigration) issue is going to go away, and so that’ll be denying President Trump the issue. I think that’s a fantasy,” Cornyn said. “You’re not going to turn off what’s happening at the border like a water faucet, so this is going to continue to be a problem and it’s obviously a very, potent, political issue.”
He said that while Trump is “an important voice,” the Senate “has a job to do, and we intend to do it.”
Lankford echoed the same sentiments, and expressed doubt that Republicans would be able to get substantial immigration policy done under a second term with Trump because “we tried to do some immigration work while President Trump was president (and) Democrats would not join us in that conversation, and I’m not sure that they would in the next administration in that time period as well.”
Lankford noted that the deal they are working on now, if passed, will set immigration policy for decades.
“It’s really setting what’s going to be the policy direction for a long time,” he said. “So I encourage people to have a longer look on this, to say, ‘What can we do to be able to make sure that we have a consistent policy that works better than what we have now?’”
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South Dakota
70-year-old woman dead after being struck by bison in South Dakota – National | Globalnews.ca
A 70-year-old woman has died after being struck by a bison while on a hiking trail in South Dakota’s Custer State Park.
The woman, who has not been identified, was hiking with her husband on the Grace Coolidge Trail in Custer State Park last week when they encountered a herd of about five bull bison, according to People, CBS affiliate KELO and the Pierre Capital Journal.
The Custer County Sheriff’s Office told the Capital Journal that the couple had paused about 450 metres from the animals and waited for them to continue up the trail. Once the couple reportedly continued hiking and came around a corner, they encountered the bison at a distance of around 45 metres, the outlet reports.
The couple stopped again and then continued trailing the bison, but a bull eventually broke from the group and charged the woman, the Capital Journal reports.
A spokesperson for the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department (GFP) told KELO that the woman was struck by the bison in the back and died from her injuries.
Global News has reached out to South Dakota Game Fish and Parks Department and Custer County Sheriff’s Office for further comment, but has not received a response.
GFP communications manager Nick Harrington told KELO that staff have moved the bison from the area and “are actively monitoring the animal’s behavior to ensure public safety and prevent future incidents.”
Harrington said that dry conditions have caused the bison to spread out throughout the park, which means visitors should remain aware of their surroundings while on the trails.
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“Hikers are encouraged to make noise as they are on the trails, be mindful when rounding corners or coming across a ridge, and to keep pets on a leash,” Harrington told the outlet.
“It’s important to remember that bison are wild animals and need to be treated as such. Visitors are reminded to keep their distance from all wild animals and safely enjoy both the trails and wildlife within the park,” he added.
Park officials around the U.S. share frequent warnings not to get too close to wildlife while visiting national parks ahead of the busy summer season.
Last May, a Florida man was injured after he was charged and gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park.
The 47-year-old, who had approached the bison, escaped with only minor injuries and was treated by emergency medical personnel, according to the National Park Service (NPS).
The National Park Service mandates that visitors stay at least 23 metres away from large animals like bison.
Bison are the largest mammals in North America, can reach speeds of up to 55 km/h when charging and are able to jump several feet.
Bison can be aggressive when people don’t give them enough space, park officials said in their statement, and have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other wild animal.
At least two people were gored by bison in 2024, including an 83-year-old South Carolina woman who was seriously injured.
The woman was near the Storm Point Trail at Yellowstone Lake in June 2024 when the bison lifted her about a foot off the ground with its horns, park officials said, adding that the bison was defending its space.
In April 2024, an Idaho man was arrested on alcohol and wildlife-related charges after he was accused of kicking a bison at Yellowstone National Park, sustaining minor injuries.
The man was arrested by park rangers, who transported him to a nearby medical facility before dropping him at a county detention centre.
Authorities were notified of the incident after a parkgoer reported seeing an individual “who harassed a herd of bison and kicked a bison in the leg” near Yellowstone’s west entrance, park officials wrote in a press release.
In July 2023, a Phoenix woman was gored by a bison at Yellowstone National Park, according to the National Park Service, leaving her with “significant injuries to her chest and abdomen.”
The woman was visiting Yellowstone and was walking with another person in a field near the Lake Lodge Cabins on the north shore of Lake Yellowstone when they came across two bison.
“Upon seeing them, the visitors turned to walk away from the bison,” the National Park Service stated, but one of the bison charged at them and gored the woman.
The woman was seriously injured and had to be transported by helicopter to the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
—with files from The Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
South Dakota
SDAHO Highlights Internal Expertise at the 2026 Rural Health Leaders Conference – Midwest Medical Edition
Get ready to be inspired! The South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations (SDAHO) is bringing the energy, insight, and expertise of our own team to the 2026 Rural Health Leaders Conference. Join us June 24–25, 2026, at our new location—the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center in Pierre, South Dakota—for a dynamic event centered around this year’s theme: A Century Strong: Charting the Next Frontier of Rural Health.
This year’s conference delivers a powerful lineup of speakers and sessions designed to spark ideas, strengthen leadership, and shape the future of rural health care. Among the highlights are sessions led by SDAHO experts who are working every day to advance health care across our state.
State Advocacy UpdateTim Rave and Jacob ParsonsSDAHO’s advocacy team will provide a timely recap of the 2026 legislative session, along with updates on current advocacy efforts and emerging state policy priorities. Attendees will gain valuable insight into evolving reimbursement, funding, and policy developments—and what they mean for health care organizations across the continuum of care. (CE: NHA)
Partnering for Impact: How SDAHO’s Rural Health Initiatives Team Helps Healthcare Facilities SucceedBecky Heisinger, Michelle Jury, Loretta Bryan, Lindsay StromanThis session highlights how SDAHO’s Rural Health Initiatives (RHI) team partners with health care facilities statewide to support quality improvement, workforce development, opioid stigma reduction, and grant management success. Presenters will share how organizations can leverage available programs and funding while strengthening collaboration with SDAHO’s RHI team. (CE: NHA)
Important Deadline Reminder
A room block is available for conference attendees at the Ramkota Hotel, offering the convenience of staying just steps away from the event. Be sure to reserve your room soon—the room block closes May 24.
Ready to celebrate a century of strength and help chart the next frontier of rural health? Join us in Pierre and be part of the momentum. Click here to learn more and register today!
South Dakota
‘Nine Little Indians’ tells story from South Dakota’s ‘painful’ Native boarding schools
MARTY, S.D. — A documentary about nine sisters who attended a boarding school for Native American children in South Dakota and later underwent a lengthy legal battle with the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls will see a global premiere this month.
“
Nine Little Indians
” follows the Charbonneau sisters, who are members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. They attended St. Paul’s Indian Mission School, also known as Marty Indian School, in Marty, South Dakota. All nine sisters said they experienced abuse at the hands of priests and nuns at the school.
Native American children were sent to boarding schools as early as the mid-19th century. Many boarding schools were affiliated with religious groups, and many were directly funded or supported by the federal government through the Indian Civilization Fund Act. That legislation allowed for funding to religious groups that wanted to open schools for Native Americans in an effort to introduce tribes to the “arts of civilization.”
At least 3,000 children died
in Native American boarding schools in the United States between 1828 and 1970, according to an investigation by the Washington Post.
Shannon Kring, the film’s director, has worked with Indigenous communities across the world and directed the 2021 documentary “End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock.” That film chronicles the yearslong fight of the Standing Rock Sioux and other Native American people against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
For “Nine Little Indians,” Kring worked with executive producers actor Leonardo DiCaprio and motivational speaker and author Tony Robbins.
Photo courtesy of South Dakota News Watch
Kring told News Watch that she wants the film to be a “healing tool” for all of those who were involved in the boarding school system, as well as their descendants, and acknowledged that it will likely bring up difficult feelings for many who have experiences at boarding schools, even outside of South Dakota.
Kring said that conversations throughout the film’s production and release rollout indicate a general unawareness of the country’s boarding school system. An important part of ensuring the film’s salience is hitting on the scale and scope of the system, she said.
Just
10 states in the country
did not have any Native American boarding schools, and a study from the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition said that the United States had a total of 526 schools.
The film will premiere at Lincoln Center
in New York City in a sold-out showing on May 27.
Darrell Red Cloud, a Lakota historian and the great-great grandson of Chief Red Cloud, will open the premiere with a prayer song. Kring told News Watch that the premiere will also include a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.
Kring also plans showings in South Dakota this summer. She said that she hopes the documentary will resonate even with those who don’t have connections to the boarding school system.
All of the nine tribes in South Dakota had boarding schools operating on their reservations at one point in time, and several existed outside of tribal lands.
Photo courtesy of South Dakota News Watch
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) is also doing its part to preserve the stories of those who attended Indian boarding schools throughout the United States. The organization, which was founded in 2012, is near the end of its
two-year oral history project funded by the Department of the Interior
.
That initiative has involved nearly 400 survivors of boarding schools across the United States sitting down with historians to share their experiences at the schools in video interviews, which will be stored in a permanent, public archive of survivor stories.
Charlee Brissette (Sault St. Marie Ojibwe), co-director of the oral history project, told News Watch that hearing real stories, like those told in “Nine Little Indians” and in the oral history project, can allow for a much more potent understanding of the system – especially considering survivors are still alive today.
“To be able to witness firsthand stories from survivors … we’re able to see a face of somebody who’s been directly impacted. We’re able to hear exactly what they’ve gone through, and how that experience has impacted their life and shaped them as a person,” Brisette said.
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