COLUMBIA, S.C. - Ofelia Reyes got an unexpected chance to send her love to her home state of Veracruz, Mexico, thanks to the work of researchers at the University of South Carolina.

The researchers discovered a link between the Latino population here and Veracruz on Mexico's Gulf Coast. That drew the attention of a Mexican broadcaster, who came to interview Veracruz natives living here.

The immigrants chose South Carolina because of job availability, similarities in climate and coastal location, networks of people they knew and the low cost of living, said Elaine Lacy, USC researcher and director of the Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies.

And researchers say there are many more Latinos in the state than Census figures previously indicated.

The 2000 Census reported 100,000 Hispanics in the state, but Lacy says her interviews are showing the population is closer to 500,000 with undocumented immigrants.

Such growth has overwhelmed schools with Spanish speakers and sent organizations scrambling for bilingual advocates to accommodate need and create helpful programs.

The Mexican television station is using this research to document those from Veracruz in South Carolina. They interviewed immigrants in Columbia and Charleston to give the people back home what they've been wanting - news about loved ones.

Reyes and her husband, Alfredo Romero, are like many immigrants from the port city of Veracruz. They left to find work, when she was barely 23, because they had no other option to survive.

They have a son, 3-year-old Braulio, who was born in the United States and whose grandparents have never seen him. Reyes said through an interpreter that she wouldn't risk a trip back home because of the expense and difficulty of crossing the border.

Interviews show most immigrants came to South Carolina because family and friends send word that jobs are available. Romero was no different - he had a brother working in North Carolina and settled in Columbia when he found a roofing job.

Quick growth in the Latino population has caught educators, lawmakers and assistance organizations by surprise.

Beaufort County schools went from 1 percent Hispanic to 12 percent in four years. The district will start its next school year with 50 people who teach English as a second language, said superintendent Herman Gaither.

Gaither went to Veracruz with USC researchers on a grant through the State Department to learn about the lives of those looking to get out.

"Beaufort County could not exist without the Latino population," Gaither said at a recent statewide Hispanic symposium. "We realized what we were experiencing was not going to go away."

The district was being flooded with Spanish-speaking children who were arriving in the middle of the school year and who were holding back other students.

The district's answer was the Gateway program, a separate class that teaches curriculum in Spanish while also teaching English. Once students graduate from the program, they can be placed in a regular classroom.

Research from the University of Veracruz is showing that the men leaving their wives and children behind often are educated.

"They could have a degree in engineering but are working in South Carolina in a factory because they are undocumented," said Rosio Cordova Plaza, University of Veracruz researcher.

Interviews show the majority of these immigrants do not plan to stay, but tighter border control is making it difficult for them to come and go.

"They don't want to stay in the U.S. They just want to spend a few years to raise money and save money and go back home," Plaza said.

Researchers hope all the work will help the state develop resources for its new minority population.

Lacy said South Carolina lags behind other states in resources for Latinos.

Advocacy groups in all corners of the state are working to help Hispanics with legal advice, transportation, job training, affordable child care and health care. North Charleston police have hired a bilingual victim advocate after a rash of robberies targeted Hispanics.

And with Mexicans reported to be twice as likely to die at work than the rest of the immigrant population, Irma Santana, director of the nonprofit Hispanic Outreach, said organizations have much to do.

Her organization was recently recognized by a Southern public-policy think tank for its program that moves low-income Hispanics into living wage jobs.

Romero and Reyes say they would like to return to Mexico eventually, but Romero said the conditions there are getting worse.

They say they miss the freshness of Veracruz food and the comforts of family, but are generally content in South Carolina.

"I still talk every week (by telephone) to my family in Veracruz," Reyes said. Romero looked at her with a grin and added, "She talks several times a week."