The influx of Latino laborers into the U.S. and the confluence of migration-driven factors in an environment ripe for risk-taking have the potential to exacerbate already rising STI/HIV rates among migrants and their social networks at both the home and receiving regions. This paper focuses on Mexican migrant laborers who are among the most marginalized and exploited Latinos in the U.S. This study used ethnographic methods to delineate the sociocultural and spatial contexts and social organization of migrant farmwork, and examined how intertwined individual and environmental factors render migrant farmworkers vulnerable to STI/HIV risks. Findings indicate the presence of a number of factors in the study population of Mexican migrant workers (N = 23) - such as poverty, limited education, physical/social/cultural isolation, long work hours, constant mobility, hazardous work conditions, limited access to health care, low rates of condom use, multipartnering, and use of sexworkers - which increase their risks for STI/HIV transmission. To be successful, prevention efforts need to focus not only on condom education and HIV awareness and testing, but also on reducing migrants' social isolation and understanding their social networks. © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2006.

STI/HIV risks Migrant farmworkers Mexican migrants

Vulnerable Populations HIV Infections sexual behavior Human immunodeficiency virus infection demography poverty Arizona human social isolation immigration condom controlled study Agriculture priority journal geographic distribution substance abuse social support Mexico sexually transmitted disease Sexually Transmitted Diseases United States Humans Hispanic geography male environmental factor female Socioeconomic Factors risk factor ethnography population distribution Risk Factors socioeconomics clinical article Article disease transmission Risk-Taking South Carolina adult health education infection risk health care access Transients and Migrants social class Mexican Americans Pilot Projects Culture