The "waves of immigrants" were not really "waves", not anything at all like what we're experiencing now.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/snpim1.htm

After the depression of the 1890s, immigration jumped from a low of 3.5 million in that decade to a high of 9 million in the first decade of the new century. Immigrants from Northern and Western Europe continued coming as they had for three centuries, but in decreasing numbers. After the 1880s, immigrants increasingly came from Eastern and Southern European countries, as well as Canada and Latin America. By 1910, Eastern and Southern Europeans made up 70 percent of the immigrants entering the country. After 1914, immigration dropped off because of the war, and later because of immigration restrictions imposed in the 1920s.
3.5 million in the decade of 1890 to 1900, was only 350,000 a year.
9 million in the next decade was only 900,000 a year.

After 20 years of THAT, in 1914 immigration dropped off and, later dropped even further due to restrictions that were imposed to stop even that level of immigration in the 1920's.

The United States is not a "nation of immigrants". That's simply untrue and false. The United States is a nation of citizens and has always been .... until now.

From the posted article above:

In addition, according to Clark, "descendants of Latino immigrants are dropping out of high school at rates far in excess of the domestic population and the descendants of other immigrant groups" and "the Latino population is much less likely than those other groups to complete higher education." Clark suggests the United States should consider "policies to increase the number of highly educated Latino immigrants" or the "United States is likely to soon have the unprecedented situation of fostering a semi-permanent underclass": (continued in article)
No, I totally disagree. There should be no more immigration of any targeted group or income or race or ethnicity or education level. We already have more people than we have jobs or positions for them to fill. It's time to stop this immigration nonsense altogether. Just stop it. The United States owes no one a place here, a spot here, a job here, an opportunity here. We just don't. Who we owe are the citizens of this once great country who have been pushed to the back of the line in their own country, and that is just wrong. It just is.

Just Stop This Madness Now. Stop wasting our time dealing with it. Stop wasting our money paying for the consequences of it. Stop running up our costs and debts paying for it. Stop risking our jobs and wages spreading what little we have around to people who have no right to be here to begin with. Stop This Insanity. Now. Period.