What makes a person crossing the border illegally not a criminal in the US?

I ask this because I’m confused. If someone crosses the border illegally would that not then make them criminals?

I understand asylum. I’m just trying to make sense of this.

Edit: I didn’t vote for Trump, this is not about Trump. It’s about illegal immigration.

Edit2: I’m not asking about Trump, MAGA, comparing other crimes or any of that. I’m simply asking if someone enters the country illegally, therefore committing a crime, are they not criminal?

Edit 3: Some might think I am on both sides of the fence and I am. Asylum matters. I don’t want to completely deny immigration at all. I grew up with A LOT of immigrants that we became close friends. They did it legally through visas and naturalization. Please, just stick to the question and don’t deflect.

Edit 4: My goal with this question was to break the illegal immigration issue to the bare minimum using a binary solution set; if doing something illegal (in this case) equate to being a crime, therefore the person a criminal.