INTERNATIONAL: On Tuesday,in a bid to convince the country's immigration authority to grant them passage toward the U.S. border, a dozen undocumented migrants on Mexico's southern border sewed their mouths shut.

The migrants, mostly Central and South Americans, helped each other seal their lips using needles and plastic threads, leaving a small space to consume liquids and using alcohol to wipe away drops of blood from the stitches.

"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."

Mexico's migration agency (INM) has said in a public statement that "it is worrying that these measures have been carried out with the consent and support of those who call themselves their representatives, with the intention of pressuring authorities on an attention already provided."

Some were carrying their children when they staged the dramatic protest in Tapachula, a border city with Guatemala, which for months has been filled with thousands of migrants waiting for papers to be able to freely cross the country.

The agency has said it continues to attend cases, adding priority is has been given to those who make up vulnerable groups, such as children, adolescents, pregnant women, victims of crime, people with disabilities and the elderly.

The institution has also said it receives more than a hundred applicants at their offices in the southern city every day.

In recent years, the number of migrants arriving in Mexico fleeing violence and poverty has jumped. In 2021, Mexico has recorded an 87 percent increase in the number of asylum applications, mainly from Haitians and Hondurans.