Is it quite different now days? Yes, people with family inside the U.S. can, under the current system, still have to wait years to be allow legal entry. As opposed to back when it was generally just a matter of getting the money to make the journey. But are you seriously arguing that immigrants today have no family, friends or fellow villagers they can lean on here in the U.S.? I have to scoff. And you also seem to be assuming that permanent migration is the end goal of all immigrants. It isn't.
And no, I'm not saying expecting immigrants to be self-sufficient is unrealistic. I'm saying demanding they all have jobs and sponsor families before they are allowed entry is unrealistic and unnecessary. Demanding all immigrants have jobs and sponsor families before they are allowed entry is not the same as expecting them to be self-sufficient.
But okay, if you want to play this game, sure, why not. What you're really saying is that you prefer the inherent detriments of the current system to the benefits of making legal crossing of the border easier. You're saying it's better to have a black market in labor, lots of people breaking the law to gain entry, and immigrants being a drain on taxpayer resources (having to spend tax dollars to hunt them down, and things like leaving them with little other recourse than emergency rooms in times of health needs), than to make legal immigration relatively easy, allowing people to come here and find work, becoming contributing tax payers and providing economic benefit to themselves and to us.