Pam Bondi on Wednesday said she will thwart the flow of fentanyl and criminal gangs coming through the southern border if approved to be the next attorney general.
Ms. Bondi shared that with Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, during her confirmation hearing about the Justice Department’s need to curb trafficking of the potent synthetic opioid and the unvetted migrants who cross easily into the country.
“We’re all familiar with the violent gangs who are coming into our country — walking into our country, freely — through the open border,” Ms. Bondi said.
She said cartels and other foreign crime groups, such as the growing threat of Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, are ascending in the U.S. because of the Biden administration’s flimsy border policies.
Ms. Bondi said she doesn’t have the security clearance to know the crime syndicate’s exact movements but that hunting them down is a top priority.
“We all know there are criminals throughout our country, and it is my commitment to you — on both sides of the aisle — that I will do everything in my power, with the agencies that fall under me if I am confirmed, to make America safe again,” Ms. Bondi said.
The exchange started when Mr. Cornyn asked her if Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was brutally murdered last year by an illegal immigrant with ties to Tren de Aragua, would still be alive if the Biden administration had policed the border more seriously.
“Senator, [the killer] should not have been in our country, and then Laken Riley would have been alive,” Ms. Bondi said. “And I don’t think it’s just Laken Riley. There are so many victims throughout our country.”
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.