"Silly me imagined that we'd made some progress now that we are in the 21st century"

The only thing "silly" is your refusal to accept the fact these people are LAW BREAKERS. That IS the point - everything else is pure baloney. Pretending illegals have the RIGHT to cross into the U.S. in any fashion and officials should welcome them with open arms is naive and foolish. The U.S. isn't Canada and has no desire to be so.