COLUMBIA - President Bush's plan to let more Hispanics legally work in the United States drew conditional support from some Midlands employers.

The employers said Bush's temporary worker program, announced Wednesday, might help them find more workers for hard-to-fill jobs in construction and meat processing.

But a state labor leader said many Hispanics will shun a program they perceive as a tracking method because of its three-year limits with undefined renewal provisions.

Others said Bush was motivated in part to bolster support among Hispanics in his bid for re-election this fall.

South Carolina had an estimated 36,000 illegal immigrants in 2000 - up dramati-
cally from 7,000 in 1990, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services study says.

Their illegal status gives employers more power.

"If they're no longer considered illegal, I would hope it would be more difficult for the unscrupulous employers to take advantage of them," said Maria Smoak, director of Hispanic Ministries for St. Peter's Catholic Church.

Smoak, who left Cuba as a child in 1960, said she is questioned daily by Hispanics hoping for an amnesty program that will allow those here illegally to become legal residents.

Most Hispanics in the Midlands are from Mexico, the 2000 census shows. In years past, Hispanics were often migrant farm workers, but now, most want to settle and raise their children in the area, Smoak said.

Many work in construction or poultry processing plants, while some have started their own businesses.

"They're basically here for the same reason: Hope for a better economic future and a better life for their family," she said.

Alan Kahn, chairman of M.B. Kahn Construction of Columbia, said he would support a plan that helps him find more skilled workers without putting Americans out of work.

"The only time it would be fair is if they were filling jobs that could not be filled now," Kahn said.

Kahn's company employs more than 500 workers and generates $250 million to $300 million in sales each year. Some of his workers are Hispanics, but he didn't know how many. He said he hires based on skills, not a willingness to work for less pay.

About 85 percent of the 750 workers processing chickens at Columbia Farms are Hispanic, so company officials will look closely at Bush's proposal, said Jim Mabe, manager of the West Columbia complex.

"We feel it's a very positive step in the direction of a more fair and sensible documentation policy. It could be very helpful in matching willing workers with good jobs that are not taken by U.S. citizens," Mabe said.

Labor unions have been split.

Donna Dewitt, president of the S.C. AFL-CIO, said Bush is trying to mollify countries in Central and South America seeking trade concessions while reducing the security threat posed by an uncontrolled flow of illegal immigrants.

But many Hispanics fear signing up for three years of legal residency will expose them to deportation when their legal status expires.

"A lot of them are going to see this as a tracking method," she said.

Some higher-paid craft unions are worried about the influx of illegal workers willing to work for less, while some retail and service unions have been organizing Hispanics and pressing for amnesty programs to remove the fear of deportation.

"If they're here illegally, they're afraid to get their rights," Dewitt said.

Some unions want policies that allow more Hispanics to become residents, while farm workers would like a program to let workers cross the border more easily for seasonal work, Dewitt said.