It is estimated that there are approximately 117,600 day laborers on any given day in the United States either looking for day labor jobs or employed as day laborers. The limited literature that exists on HIV and Latino migrant men has focused primarily on migrants living in rural areas or small cities who are usually or primarily farm workers 2 - 4 or on those described solely as “migrant laborers.” 5 - 6 Limited information is available on the HIV-related risk behaviors of day laborers, the overwhelming majority of whom are Latino immigrants. 1 Compounding such risk factors are a number of other issues, such as disruptions in family lives, poverty, low levels of formal education and literacy rates, limited English proficiency and undocumented residency status.
These include engaging in sexual activities with commercial sex workers, having many sex partners, sharing needles after the injection of illegal drugs or substances taken for “therapeutic” reasons and abusing alcohol and drugs.
A number of factors are associated with the risk of HIV infection among Latino migrant workers in the United States.
