Health Threats that Can Affect Hispanic/Latino Migrants and Immigrants

Various health threats can affect Hispanic/Latino migrants and immigrants en route to and from, and following their arrival in the United States (US). In this chapter, I describe several of these health threats and examples of approaches that have been used to address some of them, and describe social-structural and circumstantial factors that can affect migrant and immigrant health. I then briefly describe factors that than can affect two Hispanic/Latino immigrant subpopulations that may be particularly vulnerable to health threats: women and children/minors. I also suggest that the concept of structural vulnerability is useful for characterizing and understanding the varied circumstances of Hispanic/Latino migrants and immigrants in their countries of origin and the US. I conclude the chapter with a brief reprise of several topics that merit further study.