(DCNF)—CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings chuckled when former Democratic South Carolina state Rep. Bakari Sellers suggested on Monday that President-elect Donald Trump is inheriting a secure border from President Joe Biden.
Biden presided over the highest level of net migration in American history, according to The New York Times’ December analysis of government data. Despite this, Sellers on “CNN News Central,” claimed that net migration under Biden has dropped to a lower level than it was before Trump’s first term.
“If you look at the fact that something like net migration at the border, [it] is lower than it was even before Donald Trump took office,” Sellers said, prompting Jennings to laugh and shake his head.
Jennings apologized but suggested that “the idea that immigration is under control” is laughable.
“Two things can be true,” CNN anchor Kate Bolduan chimed in. “The border needs to be secured further and his numbers can be accurate.”
Annual net migration, the difference between individuals entering and departing the U.S., averaged 2.4 million from 2021 to 2023, according to the NYT.