Migrants protest in Mexico by sewing lips shut, demanding safe journey to US

THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS ARE CURRENTLY MAKING A TREK TO THE U-S SOUTHERN BORDER – BUT THEIR PROGRESS has SLOWED – according to organizers. They say families and children are too tired and hungry to carry on.

AS MANY MAKE THE JOURNEY- SOME ARE TURNING TO AN EXTREME FORM OF PROTEST TO SEND A MESSAGE to mexican authorities over struggles they face.

MIGRANTS ARE SEWING THEIR LIPS SHUT AND BURNING MEXICO’S IMMIGRATION COMMISSIONER IN EFFIGY – DEMANDING VISAS IN ORDER TO  CONTINUE MARCHING FREELY TOWARD THE U-S SOUTHERN BORDER.

WITHIN MEXICO’S OVERBURDENED IMMIGRATION SYSTEM, THOSE SEEKING TRAVEL OR HUMANITARIAN VISAS OFTEN ENDURE WAITING PERIODS OF WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS. DURING THOSE PERIODS, THEY CANNOT ENGAGE IN WORK TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILIES.

SELMA ALVAREZ | VENEZUELAN MIGRANT

“I think that it is too long that they make us wait three, four months to give us the humanitarian visa, to be able to travel through Mexican territory. Because we are at the mercy of traffickers, of criminals, so it seems to me that we all accompany each other when we go in the caravan. It seems safer to me. Although when one is a migrant nothing is safe. It is the only way I think we can get to make the CBP-ONE appointment because while we are here, we are wasting time and the laws keep changing.”

IRINEO MUJICA, AN ORGANIZER ASSOCIATED WITH THE GROUP “PEOPLE WITHOUT BORDERS,” HAS BEEN A CONSISTENT PRESENCE WITH THESE GROUPS, URGING AUTHORITIES TO PROTECT MIGRANTS FROM THE DANGERS OF A ROUTE CONTROLLED BY ORGANIZED CRIME AND CALLING ON MEXICAN AUTHORITIES TO EXPEDITE TRAVEL VISAS FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS.

MUJICA SAYS MIGRANTS OFTEN FACE UNSANITARY CONDITIONS, FREQUENTLY RESORTING TO LIVING ON THE STREETS WHEN DETENTION CENTERS BECOME OVERCROWDED WHILE THEY WAIT FOR OFFICIALS TO PROCESS ASYLUM CLAIMS.

THE migrant GROUP HAS GROWN TO MORE THAN 8 THOUSAND, ACCORDING TO ORGANIZERS’ ESTIMATES — AFTER  AN ADDITIONAL 12-HUNDRED MIGRANTS JOINED THE ORIGINAL CARAVAN OVER THE WEEKEND.

IRINEO MUJICA | CARAVAN ORGANIZER, PEOPLE WITHOUT BORDERS

“It’s really difficult. There’s 7,000, 8,000 people. It is obvious people are suffering, that they are being held. We see that people have walked more than 50 kilometers, they are unwell because they don’t eat, they live on the streets, their children were already sick.”

MÚJICA IS CALLING FOR TRANSIT VISAS TO PROVIDE safer passage toward the U-S border. THE JOURNEY FROM THE SOUTHERN TIP OF MEXICO TO EL PASO, TEXAS SPANS 17-hundred MILES, AND THIS MIGRANT CARAVAN AIMS TO COMPLETE THIS TRIP BEFORE THE YEAR’S END.

ELISEO PORTILLO | HONDURAN MIGRANT

“Unfortunately I lost my home during the Eta and Iota hurricanes. I haven’t been able to recover what I lost to this day. This is what is left for us, the only solution we have is to migrate, to recover the losses we had. We need for the Mexican Migration Institute to be conscious of this. If you see how many people are walking in the caravan, how many arrived at Huixtla, some of them have no money to eat.”

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MEANWHILE SHELTERS AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS ON MEXICO’S NORTHERN BORDER HAVE ISSUED AN ALERT FOR THE CARAVAN – WARNING THAT JUAREZ DOES NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY TO RECEIVE THEM.

IN TEXAS, GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT CONTINUES TO DEFEND HIS ACTIONS TO PREVENT ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS.  TEXAS ARMY AND AIR NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS HAVE BEEN PATROLLING THE SOUTHERN BORDER AS PART OF OPERATION LONE STAR, USING DRONES FOR SURVEILLANCE. THEY HAVE ALSO PLACED RAZOR WIRE ALONG SECTIONS WHERE BORDER WALLS HAVE NOT BEEN CONSTRUCTED YET.

ABBOTT PRAISED OPERATION LONE STAR FOR ITS EFFORTS IN PROVIDING BORDER SECURITY – CITING MORE THAN 480-THOUSAND APPREHENSIONS AND MORE THAN 63-THOUSAND MIGRANTS BUSSED OUT OF TEXAS TO SANCTUARY CITIES SINCE ITS INCEPTION.

AFTER HOSTING THE AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP FOR ECONOMIC PROSPERITY SUMMIT LAST WEEK – SENIOR WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS SAY PRESIDENT BIDEN SEES ECONOMIC INVESTMENTS IN MIGRANT AND REFUGEE HOST NATIONS AS CRUCIAL FOR STABILIZING MIGRATION PATTERNS.