Comparison of Two Methods for Estimating the Number of Undocumented Mexican Adults in Los Angeles County 1

Abstract

This article compares two different methods for estimating the number of undocumented Mexican adults in Los Angeles Country (i.e., the Los Angeles Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area or PMSA). The first method, called the survey-based method, uses a combination of 1980 census data and the results of a survey conducted in Los Angeles County in 1980 and 1981. A sample was selected from babies born in Los Angeles County who had a mother or father of Mexican origin. The survey included questions about the legal status of the baby's parents and certain other relatives. The resulting estimates of undocumented Mexican immigrants are for males aged 18 to 44 years and females aged 18 to 39 years. The second method, called the residual method, is the method used by Warren and Passel (1987) and Passel and Woodrow (1984) to estimate the number of undocumented aliens counted in the 1980 census for the United States and each state, respectively. The method involves comparison of census figures for aliens counted with estimates of legally-resident aliens developed principally with data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). For this study, estimates by age, sex, and period of entry were produced for persons born in Mexico and living in Los Angeles County.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bean

F.D.

, King

A.G.

and Passel

J.S.

1983 “The Number of Illegal Migrants of Mexican Origin in the United States: Sex Ratio-Based Estimates for 1980”, Demography. 20 (1):99–109. February.

Falasco

and Heer

D.M.

1985 “Economic and Fertility Differences Between Legal and Undocumented Migrant Mexican Families: Possible Effects of Immigration Policy Changes”, Social Science Quarterly. 65:495-504.

Hancock

1985 “Eligibility for Public Entitlements and Women's Work Efforts: A Test of Causation from a Sample of Mexican-Origin Women”. Unpublished paper presented at the 1985 annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Boston, Massachusetts.

Heer

D.M.

1979 “What is the Annual Net Flow of Undocumented Mexican Immigrants to the United States?”, Demography. 16 (3):417–423. August.

Heer

D.M.

and Falasco

1984 “Determinants of Earnings Among Three Groups of Mexican-Americans: Undocumented Immigrants, Legal Immigrants and the Native Born”. Unpublished paper presented at the 1984 annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Heer

D.M.

and Falasco

1982 “The Socioeconomic Status of Recent Mothers of Mexican Origin in Los Angeles County: A Comparison of Undocumented Immigrants, Legal Immigrants and the Native Born”. Unpublished paper presented at the 1982 annual meeting of the Pacific Sociological Association, San Diego, California.

Heer

D.M.

and Jackson

1984 “The Relative Utilization of Health and Welfare Services by Mexican Families in Los Angeles Dependent on Whether the Mother is Undocumented, a Legal Immigrant, or Native-Born”. Unpublished paper delivered at the 1984 annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, Anaheim, California.

Muller

and Espenshade

T.J.

1985 The Fourth Wave: California's Newest Immigrants. The Urban Institute Press: Washington, DC.

Passel

J.S.

1986 “Undocumented Immigration”, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 487:181-200. September.

10.

Passel

J.S.

1985 “Undocumented Immigrants: How Many?”. Proceedings of the Social Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association, 1985: 65-72. American Statistical Association: Washington, DC.

11.

Passel

J.S.

and Woodrow

K.A.

1986 “Change in the Undocumented Alien Population in the United States, 1979-1983”, International Migration Review. 21(4).

12.

Passel

J.S.

and Woodrow

K.A.

1984 “Geographic Distribution of Undocumented Immigrants: Estimates of Undocumented Aliens Counted in the 1980 Census by State”, International Migration Review. 18 (3):642–671. Fall.

13.

U.S. Bureau of the Census 1974 Accuracy of Data for Selected Population Characteristics Measured by Reinterviews. Census of Population and Housing: 1970. Evaluation and Research Program, PHC(E)-9. U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC.: Washington, DC.

14.

U.S. Bureau of the Census 1960 Post-Enumeration Survey: 1950. Technical Paper No. 4. U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC.

15.

Warren

and Passel

J.S.

1987 “A Count of the Uncountable: Estimates of Undocumented Aliens Counted in the 1980 Census”, Demography. 24 (3):375–393. August.