Immigration when our ancestors came meant legal immigration; walking across the border as an illegal alien just wasn't an option if you were in Ireland, Italy, or some East European shtetl. Immigrants then all had to undergo rigorous health inspections - and, with those failing being put right back on the same ship to go home (and the ship line fined for each reject) - the ship lines took to doing their own health checks in Europe before putting wannabe Americans aboard their ships for the trip here. No "bilingual education" when you arrived, nor street signs and driver-license tests in languages other than English, nor satellite TV broadcasting your homeland's culture to you in your native language; you had to become fluent in English. No welfare - for arrivals or anyone else.
The immigrant experience of our grandparents or great-grandparents (or earlier) just bears no resemblence to the immigrant experience of today. It is time to tell the truth.
IMMIGRATION resource library - with local INS phone numbers coast to coast!