South Americans use the same methods as other undocumented immigrants from Latin America.
Some first travel to Mexico and are smuggled into the United States over the border. Others visit the United States on tourist visas, then quietly stay after the visas expire.
In the heavily Hispanic section of New York City called Jackson Heights, you can buy Colombian magazines and Colombian newspapers from Bogota and fifteen different provinces.
In 1994, Carlos Manzano was elected a Democratic state committeeman, becoming the first Colombian-born elected official in New York City history.
