The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a government agency that insures the bulk of corporate America's pension plans, promptly called the move illegal, fearing that it will have to foot the bill.Across the Atlantic, British workers are feeling the effects of another American bankruptcy.
Many are unaware of their legal rights, and those who are illegal immigrants fear deportation.
Though the law protects the confidentiality of the information, many illegal immigrants fear that providing their personal information could lead to deportation.
How many illegal immigrants fear to seek medical assistance, seek it only when in extremis or try to reach their country of origin for free, less expensive and even better care than the United States affords?
The report said Belgium had done little to curb the illegal trade, fearing brokers would take their business elsewhere.
Today the area seems like a cauldron of the nation's deepest anxieties, a place where concerns about illegal immigration, fears of terrorism and, more recently, nervousness about spillover violence from Mexico's drug war have boiled into repeated calls for a more secure border.
They still fear illegal eavesdropping and suspect it is used for political ends.
The governor's office has insisted that the audit was not intended to facilitate deporting illegal immigrants, but fear still remains high.
"If you use local authorities as a force multiplier for federal enforcement agencies," Mr. King said, "that is the terror that illegal aliens really fear".
If scheduling does go ahead, whether this year or in the future, I fear illegal trips may become the order of the day.
