Migrants seals mouths shut as they begin a hunger strike to demand free transit through Mexico to US border

On Tuesday, February 15, some undocumented migrants on Mexico’s southern border stitched their mouths shut in an attempt to persuade Mexico’s immigration authorities to allow them to cross into the United States.
The migrants, largely from Central and South America, used needles and plastic threads to help each other seal their lips, allowing a little hole to drink liquids and wiping away blood from the stitches with alcohol.
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“As a gesture of protest, the migrants are stitching their mouths together,” said Irineo Mujica, a demonstrator.

“We’re hoping that the National Migration Institute notices that they’re bleeding and that they’re people.”

In a public statement, Mexico’s migration agency (INM) stated that “It is concerning that these actions were carried out with the consent and assistance of individuals who claim to be their representatives, with the goal of pressing authorities to pay attention to something that had already been done.
“Some migrants were spotted carrying their children during the dramatic protest in Tapachula, Guatemala’s border city, which has been flooded with thousands of migrants waiting for permits to pass the nation freely for months.
“I’m doing it for my daughter,” said Yorgelis Rivera, a Venezuelan.
“She hasn’t eaten anything in the last few hours, and I don’t see how the authorities can help…
“”We’re like inmates here, “Rivera said she has been waiting for more than a month for a response from Mexico’s migration agency.
The number of migrants fleeing violence and poverty in other South American nations arriving in Mexico has surged in recent years.
Mexico had an 87 percent surge in asylum petitions in 2021, primarily from Haitians and Hondurans.

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