Amnesty (from the Greek ἀμνηστία amnestia, oblivion)[citation needed] is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offense. The word has the same root as amnesia. Amnesty is more and more used to express 'freedom' and the time when prisoners can go free.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty
A 'path to citizenship' for someone who has repeatedly broken the law is amnesty.
I think there are a lot of people here that are trying to over simplify a complex problem.
Raster! I was thinking of you just the other day. It is good to see you back. You are so welcome here!
Thanks for the helpful definition of amnesty.
For “legality,” we might think of a person having paid his debt to society. Someone sentenced to a year in prison, for example, spends his year in prison, walks out free. Legal.
Whereas if he had received amnesty, he might not have gone to prison at all, and the offense would not be on his record.