Of course they broke the law, it's pretty much impossible not to. It's a popular assertion that the average citizen unknowingly commits three felonies per day. And that's people who aren't interacting with the highly complex immigration system. I'm sure most forgot to dot an i or cross a t on their form or something.
The idea that the average person in America commits even one felony a day is so ridiculous it falls flat on its face after being spoken. How can you even say something like that without feeling embarrassed for believing it?
Read the book. It's not about "lying on this form is a felony" and "posessing X much coke" type stuff. It's more about the ambiguity of the law and enforcement discretion than anything else. Think like Martha Steward "well you said X to us and despite believing it in good faith at the time we can prove that on day Y you were informed of Z therefore lied to us, therefore we can prosecute this as a felony if we so choose" type of fact patterns.
