Former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy believes President Barack Obama isn't finished after announcing an executive order Thursday
effectively granting amnesty to up to 5 million illegal immigrants.
Appearing Thursday on Fox News Channel's
"The Kelly File," McCarthy said he believes Obama will eventually expand legal status to even more of America's estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants.
After that, McCarthy said, Obama might go even further.
"I think he's going to pardon everyone at the end, and that immensely complicates this," he said.
"It gets murky, because under the law, if you pardon someone it's like the crime never happened in the first place. So if you punish people for having illegally come into the country, at least some judges might say, you're stigmatizing them with the conduct that's been forgiven by the pardon," McCarthy said.
Syndicated talk radio host
Rush Limbaugh has floated this theory in the past. Limbaugh, on June 12, called such a move unlikely since it would essentially kill any hopes for Democrats in near-term elections.