"They believe one government agency is just like another," Spencer said.

One Ogden elementary school invited migrant workers to a parents' meeting. The turnout was sparse.

"They were afraid to come because they thought they were all going to get huddled together and shipped out," said Rich Moore, Ogden School District coordinator.

The former U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has conducted two notable raids in Utah the past few years. One at the Salt Lake City International Airport just prior to the 2002 Olympics and another at Champion Safe Co. in Provo the following year.

Both left spouses and children of breadwinners needing intervention from several state agencies, including the Division of Child and Family Services.

"But those are so few and far between," said Duane Betournay, DCFS deputy director for regional offices.

Like other state agencies, DCFS doesn't consider citizenship when it assists families. It only comes into play when immigration officials are involved, and those situations are rare, he says.

DCFS deals with a smattering of abused and neglected children of illegal immigrants, Betournay says. He believes those cases go underreported as do others like domestic violence and physical and mental health concerns.

A study published in the American Journal of Public Health last month refutes the assumption that immigrants, regardless of legal status, are a disproportionate burden on the U.S. health-care system.

Researchers found immigrants received an average of $1,139 worth of care, compared to $2,564 for nonimmigrants. The gap was wider among children, who received one-fourth the care given to U.S.-born youngsters.

The report is based on health-care spending data for 21,000 people that the government tabulated in 1998, the most recent year for which numbers were available. It included documented and undocumented immigrants.

Children are most at risk of not receiving health care. The study showed immigrant children had fewer doctor visits, took less medication and made fewer emergency-room visits. Their emergency-room costs, however, were triple those of American-born children, suggesting families waited until a condition was serious before getting treatment.

Federal law mandates hospitals treat anyone who needs emergency medical care, including undocumented immigrants, regardless of their ability to pay. Hospitals have policies against asking about patients' citizenship status.

Utahns agree that they should get care, at least when it comes to emergencies.