Immigration - save up for a ticket on KLM like civilized people

Former Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers was in the audience for another show I did. It was a private event for the Old Society of Old Dutch Men. That wasn’t the official name, but that’s how it felt. The main table was crawling with Christian Democrats. Lubbers was interesting, but the one I wanted to talk to was former Immigration Minister Gerd Leers. His party CDA was in the coalition with Geert Wilders, and I wanted to know how much his hard-core immigration policy was dictated by the PVV.

I performed my routine, comparing Dutch politics to US politics: ‘in America our elections 18 months. In the Netherlands there are some governments that don’t even exist 18 months.’

Part of me thought I’d be asked to leave the building – or the country. But then I was approached by a man in black with a big, silver cross. He introduced himself as the Bishop of Maastricht, and he said he loved my speech… Before I knew it, he’d introduced me to Gerd Leers. And there I was, face to face with ‘Mr. Immigration.’

Gerd Leers & I ended up talking about the big news from last month: the amnesty granted to child asylum-seekers and their families. Mr. Leers said he was glad to see the issue resolved. He had a nice quote: ‘Make no mistake: If I could, I would grant amnesty to most asylum seekers. But at some point you must realize you are giving a huge gift to the human traffickers.’ And so I got schooled. Apparently, human trafficking is a huge industry, shuttling the poorest people to the West with false promises, in appalling conditions.

Ideally, those poor people should all save up for a ticket on KLM and arrive like civilized people. I said, ‘good preparation for Human Trafficking Awareness Day tomorrow.’ Leers said, ‘Oh, I hadn’t heard.’