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Things were quite lax? Not as lax as now. My grandparents had to go through Ellis Island where they were screened for diseases and they could have been sent back to Denmark if they had not passed. How many legal immigrants are screened for diseases now? Of course, illegal aliens are not screened for diseases because they come here ILLEGALLY. Now this country is seeing a resurgence of diseases that we thought were eradicated. Leprosy for example. Incurable strains of tuberculosis. And I'm sure there are lots of others. It would seem to me that any sensible person would see the need to protect the health of people already living in this country.

Yes they were quite lax.

Ellis Island did not open for business until 1892.

I would imagine that your grandparents arrived sometime during the first quarter of the last century. They arrived at Ellis Island because it was quite difficult then, as it is still quite difficult today, to walk across the Atlantic Ocean, and ships were their only available option.

Most immigrants arriving at Ellis Island only needed ship's fare; there were very few requirements as far as pre-qualifying for migration via visas etc prior to the 1920's.

The U.S. did not start patrolling the Borders until 1904, mostly looking for Chinese nationals trying to cross the U.S./Mexico Border; the Canadian border was completely open for all intent and purposes.

The U.S. Border Patrol did not come into being until 1924, the first time there were any numerical restrictions placed on immigration in U.S. history enacted by Congress in 1921 and 1924. However, the Border Patrol was not set in place to actually look for immigrants, but for bootleg liquor making its way into the U.S. from Mexico and Canada.

The Border Patrol was not allowed to look for illegal immigrants until 1952, and the efforts were sporadic at best.

So yes, our borders are being watched closer today than ever before, and as much as the "sky is falling" bunch would like to somehow rewrite history, they constantly misrepresent the facts.

Historically, travel between Mexico and the U.S. was unrestricted, and workers from south of the border would come to the U.S., work, and go home, by tightening up border security, we created the real possibility that these workers, should they return home, would not be able to get back the following season to earn a living.

So, they opt to stay and avoid danger of capture.

I am opposed to the idea of open borders; I am also opposed to the idea of closed borders.

We should have some way to allow people who wish to come here, work, and go home to do so. That way we could charge them taxes to help cover their social costs, and maybe, just maybe we would not have ten million people living in a hidden subculture, and messing with ours.