"The (fill in the blank) are unlike previous immigrants." This line is used with every new wave of immigration.
Other immigrants effectively broke the umbilical cord from their home country because of sea travel over two oceans. Modern media, air travel and immigration from within the same hemisphere have transformed the situation. Add in historical grievance, especially from the Mexican War, marxist philosophy underpinning their politics and slowness of assimilation, and you have a recipe for disaster.
As Rodney King asked, "can't we all get along"? Well if you look at history, the answer is not likely very well.
The big difference, at least in my neck of the woods: it seems the overwhelming majority of illegals want to work here for a period of five to ten years, send money home, and then return home themselves. In other words, they're here not to become Americans, but to make money so they can eventually live a comfortable lifestyle in their native country. My wife works for a food services manufacturing company, and this is SOP for something like 85-90% of the line workers there.
When my grandfather came to this country, he and his family cast aside just about everything from their old culture to become Americans. They did not look back . . . I had to be told, when I was younger, that he was an immigrant---that's how much he had adopted the ways of this country.
Therein lies the difference.