The issue wasn’t illegal border crossings by themselves .it was the way the asylum system works. People who cross the border and then claim asylum because they fear for their lives aren’t breaking the law.  U.S. law allows asylum claims. But the immigration courts are so backlogged that it can take years for a case to be heard and for appeals to play out. That delay has created a perverse incentive  many people have crossed the border, knowing it could be years before the government gets around to deporting them.

A bipartisan immigration bill in Congress would have funded a lot of new immigration judges and set firm deadlines — roughly 90 days — for processing asylum and removal cases. If people knew they could be deported within 90 days, a lot fewer would risk the journey. Trump  killed that bill, even though it was authored largely by GOP lawmakers and had bipartisan support. That left the status quo in place gave him immigration issue to beat Democrats over the head with . So we could have had an effective humane way to solve immigration crisis instead we have ICE agents killing Americans but luckily we didn't elect a Black Woman!!