Superman, Mr. Fantastic and Wonder Woman don't have to worry about wiring their salaries home to support a struggling family, but some immigrants face such challenges on a weekly basis, and the demands of these jobs inspired an entire series of costumed subjects for a photographer connected to immigration issues and angered by a recent law in Arizona demanding that state and local law enforcement officials detain anyone they believe to be in the United States illegally.

"Most of the U.S. national news about immigration is very sad: bitter political disputes in Arizona, or images of desperate immigrants trying to cross the border," photographer Dulce Pinzón wrote, describing the motivation for her photo essay for Foreign Policy.

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"I saw a Spider-Man costume in a store in November 2001, and that's when everything came together in my head," she explained. "Comic-book superheroes have an alter ego, and so do immigrants in the United States. They may be insignificant or even invisible to much of society, but they are heroes in their homelands."

Each of Pinzón's images captures an individual and an occupation, as well as what they contribute to their family at home. See a few of the images after the jump and learn more about each subject at Foreign Policy.

