The link between migration and HIV/AIDS is well documented. Theoretical work to understand the behavioral mechanisms underlying migrants' HIV risk behaviors is limited. In most studies migration is viewed as a virus carrier and population mixer. In this paper I present a framework conceptualizing the link between temporary migration and migrants' heightened HIV risk behaviors. Data from a large and population-based survey conducted in 2003 in southwestern China are used to empirically test the proposed framework. Results suggest that temporary migrants are more likely to use drugs than nonmigrants; they are also more likely to have had unprotected casual sex and a greater number of casual-sex partners than comparable nonmigrants. Postmigration economic marginalization, social isolation, and lax social control contribute to migrants' elevated risk behaviors, so do migration selectivity and social influences from family and peers. Temporary migrants are at risk of HIV; intervention needs to target migrants' postmigration milieus and their social network of family and peers.
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