As did many other immigrants before Ellis Island was constructed as a response to the demand. Demand created by open and legitimate efforts to become a part of this nation.
This time 'our' response to illegal immigration is not an improved means of legal entry but a legalization of criminal behavior, increased risk of imported disease, and - oh yeah - a free pass for any terrorists already in our midst or in route.
"Diversity" instead of assimilation / suicide instead of strengthening.
Revisionist nonsense if I am reading you right. Most of the Southern and Eastern European immigrants settled in insular ethnic ghettos, did NOT intermarry/assimilate into the larger population, and had their own newspapers/media. My great-grandmother spent 40 of her 65 years in the US (a Polish enclave in Newark), without speaking the language.
HOWEVER, none of these groups, with the exception of an anarchist/communist minority, sought to overthrow the existing order, or tell the majority culture how to live their lives.
Acculturate, respect the majority culture, and don't take the route that certain native-born minorities have taken, ie accept your role as a "permanent minority" entitled to affirmative action, white guilt, etc, and you are OK with me.
Unfortunately, the "culture of entitlement" among the illegal amigos makes me see a Brazil-like future, ie white folks (and those of other races who have "made it") living behind razor wire, while a brown and black proletariat lurks outside, forever resentful and supportive of "populist" candidates that will leave us to Mobocracy.