Attorney General of the United States Pam Bondi strongly rejected claims made by Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, following accusations that the Trump administration is not doing enough to stop Mexican gangs from acquiring American weapons.

Reed challenged Bondi during the hearing, questioning what steps the administration is taking to prevent American-made firearms from ending up in the hands of cartel members across the southern border.

“What are we doing to stop American weapons going to Mexico to arm their gangs?” Reed asked.

Bondi defended current enforcement efforts, highlighting the administration’s ongoing prosecution of firearms trafficking cases and increased border security measures.

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“We are arresting people who have illegal firearms in our country,” Bondi responded.

“We’re not sending people back to Mexico with guns. We’re throwing them in our jails and prosecuting them.”

Reed pushed back, stating, “No, you’re allowing them to be purchased in the United States and driven across the border. Most of these gangs have completely turned themselves into military organizations because they’re using American weapons, American technology, and your argument is that, well, we’re not doing anything about them.”

Bondi responded directly, attributing the current progress to President Donald Trump’s leadership and drawing a contrast with the policies of the previous administration.

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“No, not my argument. That was the policy of the last four years of the Biden administration with open borders. You could come back and forth across our borders. You could buy guns. You could take guns off the street,” she said.

“You could shoot people in our country. You could bring fentanyl into our country. You could bring methamphetamine into our country. You could bring cocaine into our country. That was the previous administration, not this one.”

When Reed restated his original question, Bondi reiterated the administration’s enforcement gains, pointing to specific actions taken since Trump resumed office on January 20.

“Our borders are closed. We are arresting illegal cartels. Sinaloa from Mexico, MS-13 from El Salvador, TdA [Tren de Aragua]. We are arresting from Venezuela,” Bondi said.

“ATF has seized over 14,600 guns since Donald Trump has been president. That’s a 33% increase from the last administration. And think about that. That’s when our border is secure. They weren’t doing anything.”

Reed continued to insist that Bondi has not done enough to disrupt the flow of weapons to criminal organizations in Mexico.

“I don’t think you’ve done anything to severely interrupt the arming of Mexican gangs because that’s really not what your focus — and I think your focus should be on that,” Reed said.

According to a May 2 press release from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), nearly 9,700 firearms have been stopped from reaching dangerous individuals in Mexico since President Trump returned to office earlier this year.

In addition to the increase in firearms seizures, new data from U.S. Border Patrol shows a dramatic decrease in illegal migration.

The agency reported zero illegal migrant releases into the U.S. during the month of May. This marks a sharp reversal from May 2024, when 62,000 illegal migrants were released under the Biden-Harris administration.

The exchange between Bondi and Reed comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to increase enforcement actions targeting cross-border trafficking and organized crime.

Bondi maintained that the administration remains focused on dismantling transnational criminal networks while securing the U.S. border.

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