[Colorado Buckeye]

"they might be undocumented aliens, but OTHERWISE lawful citizens. "

Otherwise.......key word in the reading process. Try again

You are either an alien or a citizen, there is no other alternative, and you can't be both. You can't be an alien and "otherwise" a citizen. And, none of this changes if you put modifiers before the nouns.

[Smartaleck]

"You are either an alien or a citizen, there is no other alternative, and you can't be both."

I beg to differ.
From the dictionary......
4.A native, inhabitant, or denizen of a particular place: “We have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human community” (Franklin D. Roosevelt).

What you and others are insisting but can't seem to articulate is US Citizen. Gonzales didn't say that.

Just as an atheist can model good Christian behavior, he does not have to be a Christian to do so. Likewise, a person does not have to technically be a citizen...as in US citizen to model good citizenship.