![CNN's Phil Mattingly pushed back against CNN commentator Bakari Sellers on Thursday after Sellers claimed Republicans have done nothing but photo-ops at the southern border. [Screenshot CNN]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Screenshot-2024-01-04-at-8.52.58-AM-e1704376471106.png "CNN's Phil Mattingly pushed back against CNN commentator Bakari Sellers on Thursday after Sellers claimed Republicans have done nothing but photo-ops at the southern border. [Screenshot CNN]")
CNN’s Phil Mattingly pushed back Thursday against CNN commentator Bakari Sellers after Sellers claimed Republicans have done nothing but photo-ops at the southern border.
Sellers argued that Republicans have not addressed the issue at the border while, on the flip side, Vice President Kamala Harris has visited Central American countries to address the root causes of immigration.
“The two parties have set out in ways that make it extremely clear. The Republican Party does nothing but take pictures at the border, they do gimmicks like Greg Abbott of fly and dehumanize and traffic individuals to cities who are led by democratic mayors. You contrast that with the fact that you have Kamala Harris who actually visited the epicenter of where many of these immigrants are coming from, trying to figure out how we can help remedy and alleviate the cause of the violence, of the abuse that many of these immigrants are fleeing from there native countries, that’s first, that’s the source.”
Sellers said Congress needs to strengthen the border by adding more funding for border security and adding more individuals on the border who can “more quickly” process migrants and asylum seekers.
“Mike Johnson wants to go to the border and go to Eagle Pass and take pictures, but I don’t see him calling Chuck Schumer, I don’t see him calling Hakeem Jeffries, saying, ‘Look, let’s sit down and come to some solution in the best interest of the country in some bipartisan fashion.’ They just want to stand on little boxes and take pictures and it’s infuriating.” (RELATED: ‘Why Not?’: CNN Host Asks NM Dem Why He Included Zero Proposals To Change Asylum Laws Amid Border Crisis)
“Bakari, can I just quickly follow on that though. What Gov. Abbott has done, and what you’re talking about the House Republicans doing, has it not, to some degree, even if you think it’s cynical or wrong, worked? It feels like the Overton Window has shifted with Democrats willingness to accept more hardline immigration proposals. The national conversation on this issue and in polling, I think, is more elevated than it traditionally is,” Mattingly said.
“Yeah, I love you, I have a problem with the word, ‘worked.’ Because they are using real live individuals. They are using real families here. Putting them on planes, they don’t know where they are going. It’s literally the definition of trafficking, as somebody who actually is a criminal defense lawyer, but you’re right in a certain sense in that Democrats for a long period of time, Republicans take pictures, Democrats had had their head in the sand. It’s a major issue. It’s a lot like crime.”
Sellers then agreed that the issue is now on the radar of most Americans and Democrats.
Many Republicans have refused to compromise on Ukraine aid until Democrats fund the border. Senate Republicans are demanding changes to asylum laws that would make migrants ineligible to claim asylum if they came through a third country without seeking refuge there before getting to the U.S. Migrants also would only be allowed to request asylum at an official port of entry and would have to meet a higher threshold to avoid expedited removal.
Migrant encounters at the southern border hit approximately 302,000 in December, marking the highest month on record, ABC News reported.