When the Minuteman Project set up shop in Herndon late last year, their ongoing crusade to act as a defense of last resort against illegal immigration brought national attention to the very local issue of day laborers.

Day laborers — primarily Hispanic, mostly illegal — have long gathered in front of businesses and alongside busy roads, waiting to picked up by employers seeking landscaping or construction work. Their presence had been such that last August the Herndon Town Council endorsed a plan to build a $175,000 center at which they could gather and receive needed social services, a decision that prompted the Minuteman — who has until then concentrated their efforts on the U.S.-Mexico border — to expand their vigilante activities to suburban Virginia.

Yesterday the Post reported on a study that provides insight into the world of day laborers, many of which have been viewed with fear by residents of the areas in which they gather. According to the study, which was conducted by three academics at three universities and covered 20 states and the District, some 117,600 day laborers exist nationwide, three-fourths of which are illegal immigrants, 59 percent from Mexico, and 28 percent from Central American countries. The Washington area differs from the national trend, though — 67 percent of day laborers in the region come from Central American countries. Some 49 percent are hired by individuals, and 43 percent by contractors. Most interesting, though, was the following:

More than half said they attended church regularly, 22 percent reported being involved in sports clubs and 26 percent said they participated in community centers. Nearly two-thirds had children, 36 percent were married and 7 percent lived with a partner. In addition, more than 80 percent rely on day labor as their sole source of income, earning close to the 2005 federal poverty guideline of $12,830 for a family of two.

Will this information help provide an adequate solution to the pressing national problem of illegal immigration? No. But it does provide an insight into the lives of the many day laborers that make the region’s economy work, and may help in dispelling the many myths surrounding them.

For a study that focuses specifically on day laborers in the Washington area, click here (.pdf).