In 1980, 25% of the 14 million foreign-born persons in the United States were in California; 1.7 million of these were in Los Angeles County. Half of the 2.1 million undocumented immigrants counted in the 1980 United States Census lived in California, and about 75% of these were of Mexican origin. Results of a 1983 Urban Institute poll revealed that almost 90% of the 1,031 southern California residents surveyed regarded illegal immigration as a serious problem. Nearly 50% of all respondents (and almost 60% of Blacks) believed that illegal immigrants took jobs from citizens and contributed to unemployment and 69% thought undocumented immigrants lowered the overall level of wages in some occupations, primarily low-skill jobs. Only 20% of those interviewed knew of the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, the major comprehensive immigration reform legislation that failed to pass in the 98th Congress, and nearly half (42%) of these knew only the bill's name. An Urban Institute study of Mexican immigration to southern California did not support the view that immigrants take jobs from, or seriously depress the wages of, native workers. Findings implied that California's major challenge in the future will be learning how to absorb its millions of immigrants into society's mainstream. (JMM)