In a bid to deter illegal immigration, the administration of US President Donald Trump is planning to separate women and children sneaking together into the country at the Mexico border. Press TV has asked Richard Becker, member of the ANSWER Coalition, as well as Richard Hayden Black, Republican member of Virginia State Senate, to share their views on this measure.

Richard Becker described the US government's plan to separate migrant families at the border as an extraordinarily “vicious” and “cruel” policy, expressing hope that there will be a massive outcry against the move.

He also highlighted the fact that “desperate” groups of people are leaving Central America because they feel their lives are endangered by the situation inside their countries.

The analyst also pointed out to US interventions in Central America as the “root cause” of the current crises in countries such as El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Therefore, he concluded, for the United States to turn its back on people who are desperate victims of its interventions is “truly outrageous.”

According to Becker, the idea that poor people from poor countries should go to other poor countries defies all logic and reality.

The reality of the world for the last 100 years has been migration from poor countries to richer countries, he said, noting that this process is a direct consequence of “imperialism” and “colonialism.”

“Part of the result of the colonizing was that the colonized people migrated toward the wealthier country because their own countries were impoverished,” he said.

The analyst said building a wall across the US-Mexico border was a “terrible idea.”

He also noted that the reason why so many Mexicans came to the United States was precisely the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), blaming Washington’s policies for these crises.

Becker further said the United States is capable of taking in people and any argument suggesting otherwise is “ridiculous.”

Washington today, he opined, has the “most oligarchic government” ever, which is going to serve the interests of the superrich by taking away the benefits from the poor and offering enormous tax breaks and advantages to the rich.

The analyst further suggested that the United States needs to have a “comprehensive” and “humane” immigration policy rather than building walls and separating families, adding that there should be a path to legalization for all the undocumented immigrants who are now in the country.

According to Becker, the propaganda by the Trump administration is meant to find “scapegoats” and convince the majority of Americans that their problems come from immigrants.

However, he argued, the problems come from the top one percent that is growing wealthier by the day, while a majority of the American people have trouble making ends meet.

Meanwhile, Richard Hayden Black, the other panelist on the program, blamed immigrant parents for risking the breakup of their families by crossing the US border.

He said those who really feel threatened in Central America can instead go south to countries such as Colombia and Brazil.

Black further opined that the United States should not interfere in other nations’ affairs and it is “absurd” for it to colonize other countries.

Still, he said, the country needs to control its borders because if it doesn’t, then it is not a nation anymore.

According Black, the reason why Americans’ incomes have not gone up for the last 20 years is the enormous inflow of immigrants through the country’s borders.