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Posted on Fri, Feb. 24, 2006

New view of migrants in S.C.
USC researchers find more affluence, education than expected
JOHN C. DRAKE
Associated Press

COLUMBIA - A survey by University of South Carolina researchers says that more than 40 percent of Mexican immigrant workers in South Carolina have a high school education.

Researchers say the findings indicate the state's Mexican worker population is unsettled but better educated than previously assumed.

Of the 381 people, mostly young men, surveyed last year, about a third worked in construction and had an average annual income of $21,000.

Economist Doug Woodward, who released the study results Wednesday, has said one of the major problems facing policymakers is a lack of information about the Hispanic work force in the state, including illegal immigrants.

"There's a lot of misconceptions about them out there," Woodward said. "That would be my goal, to have better public policy and a more open, dispassionate dialogue about this population."

Spanish-speaking graduate students went to three mobile Mexican consultant facilities set up in Greenville, Lexington and Beaufort counties between March and August and asked immigrants to complete a 20-minute survey.

This method means the survey population may not be reflective of the Hispanic population in South Carolina, said Ivan Segura, program coordinator for S.C. Hispanic Outreach. Most of the people who go to the mobile consultant to receive a "matricula consular" identification card are illegal immigrants, he said.

"The ID they give you, you will get that because otherwise you would not be able to get an ID anywhere else," he said.

Woodward said researchers did not ask the workers whether they were illegal immigrants, fearing that would have a chilling effect on their willingness to participate in the survey. But, he said, "we suspected most are undocumented."

He said the survey shows that the Mexican worker population in the state is unsettled. More than 60 percent said they intended to return to Mexico, which Woodward said may more accurately reflect a nostalgia for the home communities.

"They still feel connected there," Woodward said. But "we expect this to be a permanent part of our population and our labor force."

Workers send, on average, 16 percent of their income to relatives in Mexico, the survey showed.

Segura said that figure seems low. His organization helps documented immigrants find higher-paying employment.

"Usually the people that come in here are the ones that are new to the area," Segura said. "They would send like half of what they make, because their families are still there."

Segura also said the people interviewed by the USC researchers likely were more affluent than the typical Mexican immigrant, because they have the means to travel to the sites of the mobile consulates. He said that could explain why the survey found 70 percent of the workers owned cars.

Woodward said that while the average income of $21,000 may seem high, it still is $10,000 lower than the income of the average person in South Carolina.

Census figures indicate that the Hispanic population in South Carolina grew by 273 percent from 1990 to 2003, reaching 131,000 in 2004. While it is generally accepted that census counts of Hispanics are low, just how low is up for debate.

The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that the state's Latino population is between 155,000 and 165,000, but the S.C. Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies puts the figure at 400,000 to 500,000.