Ben, Ben, Ben...
Illegality is illegality. Criminality is criminality. Either we become a lawless society or we decide as higher life forms to live within the law.
Illegal aliens in the US have long been granted a degree of defacto legality. For sure, they are illegal as they enter but once they get to their destination, they acheive this defacto legal status. They are also largely accepted by society if they contribute to society.
There are exceptions to this defacto legal status. If an illegal gets in trouble, the defacto legal status is revoked. When there is an economic recession, public opinion turns against the illegal If you will recall that during the 90s boom there was huge numbers of illegals entering and there was very little opposition. When the recession hit, that all changed. This same cycle can be seen in the recession of the early 80s and again in the early 90s.
You are also ignoring the fact that illegal immigration has long been a route to becoming legal.
There is a demographic reality underway, Hispanics will become a major componant of the US population and that fact is not many years away. Those that cannot accept this reality will have a difficult time.