Going North: Mexican migrants and their vulnerability to HIV

Mexican migrants are at higher risk for HIV than Mexicans who do not migrate to the United States. Migration to the United States was the driving factor of the early Mexican HIV epidemic, and it is likely that it continues to strongly influence incidence. An overview of migration of Mexicans to the United States identifies many pervasive environmental and structural factors as well as risk behaviors that render migrants vulnerable to HIV infection. However, published studies sampling Mexicans while in the United States suggest a relatively low prevalence of HIV among the general migrant population. To better understand this apparent paradox, we sought to identify any demographic variables among Mexicans while in Mexico that may indicate that migrants have or acquire resources that have a protective effect from their vulnerability due to migration.

A California-Mexico binational collaboration project, with a respondent-driven sample with population-based quotas, was conducted in five Mexican states from December 2004 to January 2005, in areas with a high index of migration to the United States. We compared demographic and behavior variables of Mexicans with a history of migration to the United States in the past 12 months to nonmigrant Mexicans living in the same community.

A total of 1539 migrants and 1236 nonmigrants were recruited from five Mexican states. Migrants (men and women) reported more HIV risk behavior than nonmigrants in the past 12 months. Migrants reported more sexual partners and noninjected drug use. Migrants reported higher condom use during vaginal sex and were more likely to have taken an HIV test.

Though migrants reported higher HIV-related risk behaviors, they also reported higher condom use. Migrants were more likely to have accessed an HIV test indicating an opportunity for a prevention intervention. More binational collaborations are needed to research the different levels of vulnerability among Mexican migrants and actual acquisition of HIV infection. In addition, more research is needed to identify protective factors for HIV prevention interventions among Mexican migrant communities in Mexico and in the United States.