In Immigrants, Unions, and the New U.S. Labor Market, Ness explains how most immigrants that enter New York City do so illegally because of the immigration limitations that are put in place.  Most illegal immigrants come up to New York from Latin America, while immigrants from Africa, Asia, and Europe come with a business, student worker, or tourist visa.  In the decade of 1992 to 2002, about a hundred thousand Dominicans came to New York and tens of thousands people came from countries like Russia, Guyana, China, Bangledesh, and Ecuador.  These new residents of New York, illegal or not, of course provided a labor force.  They worked for a lower wage than native residents and worked longer hours because employers knew they could take advantage of their lack of knowledge of American labor markets.  Most immigrants started out in low-waged jobs, like manufacturing factories and the garment industry.  These jobs, of course, did not offer a labor union.  However, immigrants have found a way to overcome this.  As time passed by, the availability of manufacturing jobs was replaced by service jobs.  Immigrants also began starting their own businesses, both formal and informal, around their communities, which gave other immigrants an opportunity to work.  This movement towards independent  job creation gave immigrants a chance to use each other as resources.  They may not have unions to demand better working conditions or better pay to be able to afford a better quality of life, but they did have each other.  Immigrant communities could band together, professionally and socially, to make their work experiences better.  Immigrants of similar race and nationality came together at their jobs and noticed that they had shared experiences and identities and created community solidarity.  As more networks of immigrants were created, the more niches were created for immigrants of the same ethnicity and the more immigrants were able to find jobs.  Immigrants may not be able to initially find higher level jobs with decent wages, but they have found a way to make their work experiences easier for each other.