Drumgoon Dairy audit — DHS decimates workforce 5 miles from Noem's home
Overview
In May 2025, the Department of Homeland Security conducted an I-9 employment audit at Drumgoon Dairy, a 6,500-cow dairy operation near Lake Norden, South Dakota. The audit resulted in the immediate termination of 38 employees whose documentation was “inaccurate, outdated or incomplete.” The dairy’s workforce was reduced from 50+ to just 16 employees — a loss of more than half its workers.
Why This Matters
The farm is located 5 miles from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s eastern South Dakota home, making this a politically charged case that illustrates how federal enforcement priorities impact rural communities that rely on immigrant labor. The owners had never been audited before in nearly two decades of operation.
Key Facts
- Facility: Drumgoon Dairy, Lake Norden, Hamlin County, SD
- Audit date: May 2025
- Conducting agency: Department of Homeland Security
- Workers terminated: 38 (out of ~54 total employees)
- Workers remaining: 16
- Operation: 6,500-cow dairy, opened 2006 via EB-5 investment program
- Owners: Dorothy and Ciaran Elliott
Impact
- Remaining employees working 13-14 day stretches with only 1-2 days off
- Workplace accidents increased (payloader reversed into manure pond)
- New hires lack years of institutional knowledge lost
- Owners stated: “We didn’t just lose employees — we lost years of experience, skills, knowledge and a team culture that we had built over the past 10 years or more.”
- SD dairy industry leaders have warned of difficulty finding workers “if we don’t allow more laborers in”
Context
This audit represents the “silent raid” model — no dramatic ICE operation, but a paperwork-based enforcement action that devastates agricultural operations. South Dakota’s meat processing and dairy industries employ 58% immigrant workers. The audit came during the same period as Operation Prairie Thunder and broader Trump administration immigration enforcement escalation.
Sources
- SD Searchlight: Noem’s South Dakota neighbors hit with immigration audit that decimates their workforce
- DairyHerd: Overnight Exodus — How An ICE Raid Cut This Dairy’s Workforce By More Than Half
- Brookings Register: Lake Norden-area dairy hit with immigration audit
- SD Searchlight: Dairy leader expects difficulty finding workers