CHEYENNE -- A bill pending in the Wyoming Legislature to cut some state services to illegal immigrants would disrupt families and scare even legal immigrants from seeking help when they need it, opponents of the measure said.

Wyoming is one of several states where lawmakers are seeking to crack down on illegal immigration, citing an absence of federal action on the issue. The Wyoming bill passed the House this week and is pending in the Senate.

House Majority Floor Leader Colin Simpson, the bill's sponsor, said he modeled it after similar legislation enacted in Colorado in 2006.

Simpson said he believes thousands of illegal immigrants in Wyoming now receive benefits. His bill would block them from services ranging from driver's licenses and non-emergency health care to post-secondary education and food assistance.

"When you look at the numbers of what illegal aliens cost America, for one, they're fairly staggering," said Simpson, R-Cody. "And in Wyoming, we have much smaller population, so our numbers are lower. But assuming we had 5,000 illegal aliens who are receiving benefits worth $10,000 apiece, that adds up on an annual basis, and burdens all kinds of the social welfare systems."

Bille Metzger, program director of La Puerta Abierta, a program that works with immigrant families in Jackson, said the group trains adults about government services available for them.

She said many of the immigrants have visas to work in the country, and changing state law to specify that illegal immigrants aren't eligible for government services would hit the entire immigrant community.

"They would not feel comfortable because of insecurity of not knowing how the system works, what would happen to them, how it would affect their life, the lives of their children or family members," Metzger said.

Any deportation of a family member affects the entire immigrant family, including others who are in the state legally, Metzger said.

The Pew Hispanic Center in 2006 estimated that Wyoming has fewer than 10,000 illegal immigrants -- a tiny portion of the roughly 12 million people the group estimates are in the country illegally.

Jack Martin of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a Washington D.C. group, said his group also estimates that Wyoming's illegal immigrant population is about 5,000 to 10,000.

"It's so small that its not really on the radar screen compared to states like Arizona, Texas or California," said Martin, whose group advocates on tightening immigration laws.

Yet Martin estimated that Wyoming spends about $5 million a year on providing benefits to illegal immigrants.

Sen. Drew Perkins, R-Casper, a co-sponsor of the Wyoming measure, said he and Simpson are concerned that Wyoming could become a haven as other states tighten their illegal immigration laws.

"If you don't keep pace, ultimately, you end up creating a hole, and you end up being the one people go to because they can get those benefits without any kind of scrutiny," Perkins said.

The bill's sponsors said they're not opposed to legal immigration. Perkins pointed out that there's high demand in Wyoming for qualified workers.

In Jackson, many restaurants and hotels are able to provide their immigrant workers short-term visas, Metzger said.

"I know most of them came here on a legal visa, and are trying to maintain their status," she said.

La Puerta Abierta trains 15 immigrant families in language skills as well as how to integrate into U.S. society, without asking about their residency status, Metzger said.

Metzger said her program also helps the immigrants' children, nearly all of them were born in Wyoming.

Rep. Ken Esquibel, D-Cheyenne, was among the minority in the House to vote against the bill.

"I don't really think that we need to be giving services to illegal aliens," Esquibel said. "But if they have kids, and they're in schools, and they're American citizens, it would affect them as far as whether or not the parents were there, and if they've got a job. It would affect whether or not they can put food on the table, and clothes on the backs of the kids."