With nothing more on their mind than to put food on the table, Mexican immigrant women have hit the streets to try to earn a living by selling a variety of products, from DVDs, to socks and shorts.

Catalina López approaches the workers at a Lower Manhattan pizzeria offering for sale some socks – one bag of assorted colors for $5; however, she has no luck. López is not alone. She is with her 3-year-old daughter. This single mother explains she is selling products on the city streets because she needs the money for her two children and herself, since her now sporadic cleaning job no longer pays enough to support the family.

A native of Puebla, Mexico, López says some days sales are low, like yesterday, but other days she is a little more successful.

"Whatever honest work you can do to earn a living is fine, I think," said López, who does not speak much English. She insists that she did not have time to learn the language once she became pregnant and then had to take care of her children; she left her husband because of his alcoholism.

"Every day we see more people passing by to sell whatever they can," said Luis Zarate, a Mexican employee who offers López some food for her and her daughter.

Zarate says he had not seen many Mexican women selling products on the street in the past, but the current economic crisis is forcing immigrant families to look for new ways to survive.

"This year we have seen more women selling things in the street. When we can, we help and give them something to take with them. We have family too, and we are touched [by their situation]," says Zarate.

Zarate is shocked by the fact that women, not only men, have been pushed to the lowest possible situations in attempting to make money. Moreover, these women are catering to working class employees, who also find themselves in a deepening economic crisis and cannot afford a $5 pack of socks.