Fair enough, but in that case I'd likely be in trouble fast if I tried to debate it any length. Plus there may be little cause to do so; we don't seem to disagree as much as I initially thought.

I did, yes; I mistook whom you were chiding, sorry.

Well, an illegal immigrant has already turned to crime if they remain in the country after learning of their illegal status, the moreso if they then obtain first a Bachelors and then a Masters degree at a university that requires students to be legal residents. I'm not unsympathetic here either, but if she sincerely felt as bad as claimed and genuinely wanted to do the right thing, "the right thing" would have been to go to the police, explain her situation and then seek asylum independently from her parents since they remained in the country with their minor child even after being refused asylum. Informing the authorties via a sensationalistic book then waiting for them to arrest her with the expectation allowing her to stay would be a mere formality seems a bit like political extortion: The fact there IS a "popular" view is no accident and, while I have no great love for UDI, in their place my reaction would probably have been something like "GTFO and STAY TFO!" If I broke into a jewelry store, cleaned it out and then wrote an exciting captivating novel about my exploits I wouldn't be too indignant or surprised that the cops who subsequently arrested me wouldn't let me keep the gems.

Now, you're quite right that asylum is different from other forms of immigration, and if there's a legitimate danger of political violence against her I think she ought to get asylum, though, as you note, she shouldn't get special treatment not accorded those who lack her public relations skills but are in precisely the same predicament. One difference is that while I'd never be allowed out of the US again if I was deported for being here illegally, it seems that asylum seekers are repatriated with a significant sum of cash, more than enough to travel to, say, Germany, or Britain, etc. and seek asylum there. A case of "you don't have to go home but you can't stay here". That seems a lot more ethical than simply using public opinion to bully the government into giving you what they refused to grant when you publicly proclaimed you'd been enjoying it for seven years. As it stands it sounds like she won't even have time to unpack before returning on a work permit, but while she may have "put a face" on the problem, most asylum seekers won't have the luxury of being a charismatic cause célèbre to let them circumvent the system. If you're a semi-literate 50 year old male refugee from Mogadishu... well, hopefully you have cute kids to put in front of the camera (makes me wonder where mom and dad are during this little media blitz).

So I guess the comparison to the American situation fits rather well if we bear in mind that political asylum IS a different thing than more standard immigration; I'm sympathetic in both cases, but the technical term for ignoring laws one deems inconvenient is "crime" and if the authorities decide to simply look the other way because a confessed criminal is likeable that's a tremendous slap in the face to all the people who ACTUALLY did the right thing and went through the proper legal channels AS WELL AS accepting the results of that. I mean, really, what kind of idiot would waste years of their life and large amounts of money on a process that very well might STILL fail when they could instead be living and working in the country illegally, secure in the knowledge that if they're ever caught the government will just retroactively rubber stamp their legal residence? Amnesties are a bad idea for the same reason the US won't let people leave the country again if it have to pay for their repatriation: Rewarding bad behavior only encourages it.

Well, that's reassuring, thanks, but the person that told me admission to the local university is "highly competitive" was the admissions section of said universities website. Given how much harder than expected finding a job has been I'm inclined to take them at their word. I'm told they type of class makes a big difference, that as long as there's space left in a given course registering for it is no problem, but if there's more demand than supply then the competition begins. Something to ask our bridemaid about, me thinks (though any advice or info you have is certainly welcome), since I'll most likely be pursuing the degree she completed a year or so ago.

Still, ere I teach Norwegians my language and culture (and maybe the Brits, I guess, if it's necessary ) I suppose I should learn more of theirs.