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, as shown in images.
“The migrants are sewing their lips together as a sign of protest,” said Irineo Mujica, an activist at the demonstration.
“We hope that the National Migration Institute can see that they are bleeding, that they are human beings.”
“It is disturbing that these measures have been carried out with the knowledge and assistance of individuals who name themselves their representatives, with the purpose of pressuring authorities on an attention already granted,” Mexico’s migration agency (INM) stated in a public statement.
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 papers to pass the nation freely for months.
Yorgelis Rivera, a Venezuelan, said, “I’m doing it for my kid.” “She hasn’t eaten anything in the last few hours, and I don’t see how the authorities can help her.”
“We’re like captives here,” Rivera remarked, adding that she has been there for a long time.