Which way? That's how every country on earth operates. You are not a citizen of a country just because your parents dragged you there when you were young. In fact, the US is almost the only place on earth that grants birth-right citizenship (maybe Canada and Australia do as well?). All other countries think this is absurd.
Definitely not a US only thing. Though does appear to be a New world thing.
The laws are made to make use of cheap and obedient foreign labor; and dispose of it when no longer needed.
It's not how the law is written, as I understand it. It is how it is implemented and that is up to the President, Director of Homeland Security and ICE. Applications used to be returned or clarified when they had been filled out incorrectly. Now they are perfunctorily denied, and the applicant has to file an appeal. This change was brought about by a change in executive policy. I cannot say for sure whether it was started under Obama or Trump, but I did hear that it caught immigration attorneys off-guard. For example, if there is no middle name, they are not supposed to leave it blank. But if they use the wrong magic word to fill the space or cross it out, the application is now denied.