Doctoral Dissertation Research: Migrant Health Status in Migration Stream

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Mexican immigrants who are new to the United States show remarkably high levels of health. It has been hypothesized that the good health status of migrants is the result of a selection process through which those who are better off tend to move. By studying a well-defined migration stream, I will determine if men who migrate to this country are actually healthier than their counterparts who stayed in Mexico and test two different theories that might explain why healthier people migrate. This study draws upon quantitative and qualitative data and will be conducted in a male-only agricultural migration stream from rural communities in central Mexico to the state of Colorado in the US. The Co-PI will conduct semi-structured interviews with migrants, return-migrants, migrant recruiters and contractors to understand the context of migration decision-making and the role that health status might have on this decision. The quantitative data will be collected through a cross-sectional survey that includes selected health status indicators, migrant network characteristics, and migration decision-making factors of Mexican adult male migrants (in the US) and their counterparts who stay in their communities of origin (in Mexico). The results of this dissertation will add to our knowledge of the health of immigrants when they arrive and will also expand our understanding of social processes that could be useful to study immigrant adaption. The contributions of this study will be disseminated to the scientific community at several national conferences both in Mexico and the US, as well as through scientific journal articles. This research project will promote the participation of students in Mexico and the US in a binational research experience.