While residential construction has stalled in the US, Mexico boasts a thriving housing sector whose record growth leads Latin America. In the coastal city of Ensenada, 6,000 low-income 'casas economicas' are built to help meet President Felipe Calderón's national goal of achieving one million mortgages every year.

A 'casa de cambio' in downtown Mexicali, Mexico offers to exchange dollars for a devalued peso. The Mexican peso lost over 30% of its value in 2008, hurting American businesses that depend on shoppers from south of the border.

Maria De Jesus Delgado protests the conditions of Colonia Santa Isabel, a shantytown along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Cesar Pastor is severely trampled during a bullfight at Plaza Calfia in Mexicali. After leaving the bullring in an ambulance, the stadium announcer incorrectly announced his death to thousands of stunned spectators.

A Mixtec child from southern Mexico sells snacks to commuters as they wait on line to enter the United States. Tens of thousands of Mixtecs have migrated northward in search of a better life.

Children play outside La Rosa en Belèn orphanage in Mexicali, Mexico.

La Autentica de Mazatlan entertains 25,000 baseball fans with raucous, brassy banda music during a rain delay at the Caribbean World Series in Mexicali, Mexico.

Prostitution – legal and regulated – in the city of Mexicali, Mexico, is a last resort for many women who leave their homes in central Mexico