Charles Bronson once said of ex-patriot Mexican immigrants: "Mexican aliens, like the immigrants before them, are seeking a better life in the US. They come here, not because they want our jobs, but simply because they want a job. They want to make a living and live, that's all."
The 27th January 1980 edition of 'The Los Angeles Times' reported that the production utilized about two thousand extras and background artists to portray illegal alien immigrants.
This movie's closing epilogue states: "In 1979, more than one million undocumented aliens were apprehended crossing the border into The United States. It is estimated more than twice that number of undocumented aliens successfully enter this country every year."
Actor Ed Harris received an 'introducing' credit despite having appeared in numerous television shows and having played a pathology resident in Michael Crichton's Coma (1978).