WASHINGTON — Seven Republican state attorneys general thanked the Trump administration on Friday for its commitment to helping states prosecute violent crime.
The attorneys general, who will be joining President Donald Trump for his remarks at the Department of Justice (DOJ) this afternoon, said they are already seeing improvements in areas of public safety and immigration enforcement that were neglected under the Biden administration.
“I’ve received more phone calls from the Department of Justice on how we can collaborate and work together in the first 30 days under General Bondi than I did in my previous three years as attorney general,” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said.
“I can’t tell you what a night and day difference we’ve seen with this Justice Department, taking these transnational gangs seriously, taking the scourge of fentanyl seriously, going after the cartels,” Miyares said. “We know the results are going to be different.”
The Biden administration seemed “more concerned about parents at school board meetings or churches than they were in addressing the growing violent crime problem across our country,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said.
“We’re already seeing tangible differences on the border with regard to fentanyl that’s crossing our points of entry,” Marshall said. “I know that because fentanyl is more expensive in Alabama now, which means we’re doing a better job of stopping the cartel and supply coming across the country, but there is still significant work to be done.”
Since Trump took office, there have been “dozens of raids” that have detained dozens of criminal illegal aliens in Florida, Attorney General James Uthmeier said.
“Most of these individuals we find went in and out of the criminal justice system numerous times, and the federal government under the Biden administration let them go free,” he said. “That stops now.”
NOW: Republican state attorneys general speak about how refreshing it is to have an administration that prioritizes prosecuting violent crime ahead of President Trump’s visit to the DOJ. pic.twitter.com/3NzPOuMk8f
— Katelynn Richardson (@katesrichardson) March 14, 2025
Still, states continue fighting the effects of “leftover from the policies of the previous administration,” South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said.
“Roughly two months ago, America plugged the holes in the boat, but the water is still in the boat,” he said.
Some attorneys general mentioned law enforcement in their states have taken advantage of the Trump administration’s reforms to the ICE 287(g) program, which deputizes local law enforcement to carry out the functions of federal immigration officers.
“Those local law enforcement can now take into custody and help remove those individuals from our respective states and hand them over to ICE,” Wilson said. “This partnership is something that I’ve been told had been gutted, it had been made unworkable, unmanageable, and it was something that no sheriffs were even considering joining over the last four or five years, because it was an unworkable partnership.”
Daily Caller News Foundation Reporter @katesrichardson asks nation’s Republican AGs about investigating child mutilation procedures
Richardson: “Do you have plans to look into hospitals that are providing these procedures for children? What will collaboration on this issue… pic.twitter.com/GbfMZYdfuO
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 14, 2025
Daily Caller News Foundation Reporter In response to a question from the Daily Caller News Foundation, Wilson also said his state is committed to defending Trump’s executive order on “Protecting Children From Chemical And Genital Mutilation,” as well as his own state’s law banning transgender procedures for minors.
“As a state attorney general, we have here duty bound to defend those laws and to defend the rights of our citizens to be protected from that type of wacko science,” he said.
Republican attorneys general from Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia attended, along with Kentucky Chief Deputy Attorney General Rob Duncan.
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