A new study released by the Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project and the Labor Justice Committee suggests that undocumented workers play a crucial role in the Texas construction industry.

The study used data from nearly 1,200 surveys from individual workers in major cities across the state in order to determine the prevalence of undocumented immigrants in the state's construction industry.

"Fifty percent of all workers, of all construction workers here in Texas, reported themselves as undocumented. And here in El Paso, we actually think that number is higher, based on the people that we've spoken with," said Jed Untereker of Paso Del Norte Civil Rights Project.

The groups plan to use the study to help them make the case for comprehensive immigration reform. They aim to bring those undocumented workers out of the shadows.

One local construction business owner in El Paso believes that the study's findings are obvious among those who work in construction. 

Ralph Carillo owns R.C. Concrete and he employs some 10 workers at a time for big projects. For example, he is subcontracted on the CVS Pharmacy in the Lower Valley.

"I have to ask them if they got all their proper papers," said Carillo. 

Finding legal, qualified, hard-working crews can be difficult. 

Yet, Carillo also believes that undocumented people are helping build communities and that their jobs are not easily replaced, because undocumented people are willing to do jobs that others are not. 

"If 50 percent of those workers go back to Mexico or where they're from, yeah, it's gonna be hard," said Carillo. 

For more information on the study, contact the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project. 

http://www.texascivilrightsproject.org/?page_id=480