ABSTRACT
Major changes in US immigration policy were made in the mid-1960s: The bracero program and national origin quotas were eliminated, and numerical limits were placed on immigrants from the Western hemisphere for the first time. Beginning in 1974, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors wanted to know more about the numbers and impacts of undocumented immigrants. The competition for the contract was tied to a debate about whether valid measures of the undocumented population could be made. A long-term study would miss the crisis dynamic that motivated the need for information about undocumented immigrants. The economists who worked with us stated that the impacts of the undocumented population on the San Diego economy could be modeled much like other regional transformations. The ability to communicate with undocumented persons required a language facility and a willingness to communicate at the individual level.
