Legal immigration into the USA can take many forms. There are many types of visas that go along with the many types of immigration. My ex wife came here on a K1 visa. All of that process starts with an I-129 form and goes on and on from there until the process is complete. You will never get the fiance here unless you first go there and meet them complete with dated pics and other proof. I suggest you look up K1 and I-129 on the Internet and see prices and what all is involved. There is a never ending chain of paperwork, fees, and forms. None of this is cheap. Americans can travel freely in these ventures. People in the other countries cannot.

I did all of my ex wife's paperwork myself along with the parts that were there for me also and I was able to get her here to the USA in less than 6 months. That was record timing. An attorney is advised but I'm good with paperwork. Today she is a naturalized US citizen. Some 12 years later I also did our divorce. Times and people change.

All of the above is just ONE type of immigration visa. There are many and lots of immigration situations. Understanding all of this might explain why some people would do anything to be here illegally. Who knows? They either expect asylum or just don't think they will get caught. Many come here on a student visa and just fade into our society as long as they can.

What did people used to pay as the price of admission? My people just sailed over and killed whoever got in our way, why not let the new people do the same?

In the current political climate...Be from Russia

I visited India a while back and talked to people who wanted to immigrate. The people I spoke with said that they had a one in 25,000 chance to get even a travel visa.

You can come if you fit the qualifications for certain visas... like the servers that work at Mar-a-lago. I came to the US in 1995 on a visa for RN’s called a TN through NAFTA.
Many come to the US that are educated on such Visas to fill voids that America cannot.
Migrant workers are necessary for the farmers in the US. They perform jobs frankly most Americans believe are below them such as farming by hand, garbage collecting. Most southern republicans realize this issue, despite what they actually say.

I would love to immigrate to USA (legally) and have some personal experience with this issue . I will try to answer your questions based on my personal experience . 1. why do people want to come to US?

• better standard of living
• higher education
• relatively less violent compared to the place they are coming from

2. why not come by the book?

   • there are different ways to come to USA legally . The easiest method would be to buy citizenship (EB5 program) which costs 1,000,000 usd investment or atleast 500,000 usd in a rural area. This is beyond the scope of most immigrants. The other method would be to be exceptionally talented(limited vacancies), apply for a green card which has a 20 yr waiting list( depends on the country you are applying from) or as an asylum seeker. So for someone escaping a desperate situation the options maynot be feasible.

3. Its important to make a distinction between an asylum seeker and an illegal immigrant.

There is no process for poor people. If there is family here you can apply but it takes 5 years for spouse, 2 for fiance. waiting for other random types takes 10 plus years. Also very expensive.