Poll says 4 in 10 Mexicans would migrate to U.S.

WASHINGTON – Four out of every 10 Mexican adults would migrate to the United States if they had the means and opportunity to do so, according to a poll released Tuesday.

And one in five Mexican adults say they’d be willing to live and work illegally in the United States, the Pew Hispanic Center reported in what is believed to be the first snapshot by U.S. pollsters of Mexicans’ views on migration.

With about one in every eight Mexican adults already living in the United States – and 40 percent of the nation’s nearly 70 million adults willing to migrate – the findings could hold implications for U.S. policymakers.

Congress and the Bush administration are considering various proposals for a temporary worker program that would allow foreign workers to come here and let many of the more than 11 million illegal immigrants remain here for a number of years before returning home. Of the 10 million Mexicans living in the United States, about half are believed here illegally.

Two-thirds of the 2,400 adults surveyed in Mexico for the Pew Hispanic Center said friends and relatives would be interested in participating in a temporary worker program.

The survey “shows that very significant portions of the Mexican adult population have the thought of migration in mind,” said Roberto Suro, executive director of the Pew Hispanic Center. “And it’s even a desirable option.” The survey dispels the belief that Mexicans with the least opportunities at home are most likely to head north. One-third of college-educated Mexicans and half of those with a high school education also voiced a desire to migrate.