A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Acknowledging the need to protect our borders and affirming South Dakota's support of the defense of the southern border.

WHEREAS, our nation is facing an unprecedented crisis at our southern border, marked by a significant increase in illegal border crossings, and posing severe threats to the safety, security, and well-being of its residents; and

WHEREAS, the surge in illegal border crossings into the United States has led to a disturbing influx of drugs, criminals, and human trafficking, exacerbating public safety concerns and placing an undue burden on law enforcement and public resources; and

WHEREAS, the worst of the crisis is being borne by the southern border states, which through expenditures of their own resources, are doing their best to defend their people and this country from crime and chaos in spite of the failed immigration policies of the federal government, which remains indifferent to the consequences of its inaction; and

WHEREAS, the protection of our nation's borders from invasion is fundamental to the security, prosperity, and sovereignty of the nation; and

WHEREAS, each of the fifty states and their residents have a responsibility to safeguard our respective citizens from internal and external threats; and

WHEREAS, twenty-five states, including South Dakota, stand with Texas as it takes on the crisis in furtherance of its right to defend itself; and

WHEREAS, the current administration has failed in its constitutional obligation as provided in Article IV, section 4 of the United States Constitution, which mandates that the federal government is responsible for protecting each state from invasion; and

WHEREAS, in the last three years alone, over five million illegal immigrants have been encountered at the southern border, in addition to nearly two million known "gotaways," underscoring the urgency for immediate action to secure the border and protect the safety and well-being of the country's citizens; and

WHEREAS, in 2023, South Dakota law enforcement intercepted fourteen pounds of fentanyl, a substance with a lethal dose as minimal as two milligrams, which corresponds to an amount of fentanyl with the potential to end the lives of over 3.1 million people, surpassing the population of South Dakota by 3.5 times; and

WHEREAS, South Dakota has witnessed an alarming spike of over forty percent in fentanyl-related overdoses as a share of total drug overdoses since 2021; and

WHEREAS, the majority of fentanyl in the United States originated from over the southern border, with total pounds of fentanyl seized at the border surging by more than five hundred sixty percent in the past three years, notwithstanding the far larger amount of fentanyl that has crossed the border undetected; and

WHEREAS, states have the obligation to protect our people from all threats, especially threats to the lives, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of our people:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the Ninety-Ninth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the Legislature recognizes the need to protect our national border and mitigate the impact of the crisis at the United States' southern border; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Legislature affirms the obligation of each state to protect its citizens, recognizing that the security and well-being of each state and their citizens depends upon effective border patrol.

Adopted by the House of Representatives, January 31, 2024

Concurred in by the Senate, January 31, 2024

_____________________ _____________________ Hugh Bartels Patricia Miller Speaker of the House Chief Clerk

_____________________ _____________________ Lee Schoenbeck Peggy Laurenz President Pro Tempore Secretary of the Senate

of the Senate