The first is what the President calls the Late Amnesty for those illegal aliens who were here in 1986 but hadn't been here long enough to qualify for that amnesty. In a sense it's a "Criminal Achievement Seniority Award." For all those illegal aliens who have successfully avoided capture for 15 years, we will honor you with U.S. citizenship. There are about a half million of these successful criminals.

The second amnesty is for all those people from Central America who fled civil wars in the 1980s. Most were illegal aliens. They were allowed to stay when their lawyers argued to let them wait until the wars were over. The wars have been over now for years, but they refuse to leave. To allow them to stay makes a mockery of the concept of temporary safe haven and endangers future temporary refugees who may ask for "temporary" help. Who will ever again believe such requests?

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