Arkansas has no idea how many illegal immigrants are in the state nor how much it costs the state to provide services to illegals. In other words...Arkansas has no clue:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sept. 18, 2007, 11:18AM
Ark.: Immigration Costs Report Focus

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5144529.html
By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK — Illegal immigrants represent a small percentage of the number of those served by Arkansas' health and human services departments, while other state agencies say they could not estimate immigration costs.

A report, to be presented Tuesday to a joint meeting of the House and Senate's state agencies and governmental affairs committees, showed an estimated 32,700 illegal Hispanic immigrants received services from the state Department of Health out of an estimated 945,000 clients _ about 3.5 percent of all clients served.

The state Department of Human Services estimated the majority of its 3,538 illegal immigrant clients received pre-natal care. That's out of a total of 771,671 people helped by the department.

The Arkansas State Police and the state Workers' Compensation Commission reported it could not provide estimates on how illegal immigration affects their resources.

Rep. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, concluded that officials could not determine the full impact of illegal immigration on the state because some agencies couldn't provide hard numbers.

But Woods, whose district has seen one of the largest increases in the immigrant population, said he would be concerned with illegal immigration even if evidence showed that immigration has resulted in financial gain to the state.

"I don't think it's OK to break the law if the state profits," he said. "I think it sends the wrong message."

Woods said that because the state numbers were incomplete, "there's no way to claim victory on either side."

An August report to the committees found the state paid about $170 million a year to educate, imprison, or provide services to immigrants. The majority of that about _ $154 million _ went toward education programs, many of them federally mandated.

A study by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation earlier this year concluded that state manufacturers and other companies would lose about $1.4 billion in production a year and pay $95 million more for higher wages if illegal immigrants left Arkansas' work force.

Census estimates show Arkansas has more than 141,000 Hispanic residents, many living in the northwest corner of the state. Recent studies concluded about half of the state's immigrant population lives in the United States illegally.