The Contribution of Unauthorized and Legal Mexican Immigrants to the Census Undercount in Los Angeles County

Enrico A. Marcelli, University of Massachusetts
Paul M. Ong, University of California at Los Angeles

This paper employs the 2001 Los Angeles Mexican Immigrant Legal Status Survey (LA-MILSS) data to estimate the contribution of unauthorized and Legal Mexican immigrants to the Census undercount in Los Angeles County. After estimating the number of Mexican immigrants by legal status and whether each individual was enumerated in the 2000 Census, we examine various sources of omission. Logistic regression results suggest that individual demographic characteristics, social network quality, and neighborhood characteristics help explain variation in whether a person was counted.