South Dakota Organizations Denounce Keynote Speaker Tom Homan and Emphasize Hypocrisy of Event

A group of South Dakota organizations who embrace the growing diversity of our state and proudly advocate for all people living in SD, amidst increasingly inequitable and unjust social conditions has come together to denounce the invitation for Tom Homan to speak in front of thousands of law enforcement today.

We are outraged that the host committee for the Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner would invite an official from the Trump Administration who has clearly refuted the protections of due process and rights found in the 4th, 5th, 6th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. Homan, also referred to as the Border Czar, is part of key decision makers ripping children from the arms of their moms and dads, deporting U.S. Citizen children, deploying federal agents to cities across the United States, arresting U.S. Citizens by stopping cars in the middle of the road and dragging innocent people into the street, publicly humiliating and shaming them and throwing them in jail. Homan refers to this as “collateral damage.”

The Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner is an annual event which raises funds for SD children’s charities.

“What are we signaling to SD’s law enforcement community by having Homan keynote this important event? The irony is not lost on those of us who believe that the U.S. Constitution's protections are for ‘all people,’ regardless of immigration status. The inhumane and degrading treatment of innocent people in the United States in broad daylight, should be a red flag to all law enforcement and people of conscience that the values and laws that set the United States apart from other dictatorships across the world is eroding before our eyes,” said Taneeza Islam, CEO of SD Voices for Peace.

“No one is illegal on stolen lands and cloaking civil immigration legal process under Gestapo tactics and racist overreach into the lives of working and productive South Dakotans is unconscionable,” emphasizes Natalie Stites Means, Executive Director of Coup Council.

“Under Homan’s leadership, ICE is being weaponized in local communities — conducting raids that tear families apart, detaining lawful residents and citizens alike, and inflicting lasting trauma on children. His record stands in direct conflict with the values of justice, dignity, and community trust such an event should represent. The NAACP has long condemned the separation of families and the inhumane treatment of Black and Brown people under aggressive immigration enforcement. These actions were not about public safety — they were about intimidation. To elevate Tom Homan at a community celebration dishonors the very ideals of protection and compassion that law enforcement should uphold. The NAACP Sioux Falls Branch urges our community to stand for human rights and reject the normalization of cruelty,” said Nieema Thasing, President of NAACP Sioux Falls.

“Our SD Peace officers treat human beings humanely and deserve a keynote speaker who exemplifies South Dakota values. Tom Homan does not.” Allan Saugstad, All Souls Unitarian.

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