A second migrant died this winter shortly after walking across the Quebec-Vermont border, where American authorities are stepping up wiretapping in the freezing cold.
Jose Leos Cervantes had barely set foot in the United States when late in the evening of February 19, he was surprised by US border guards.
Visibly desperate, the 45-year-old Mexican man clung to a tree and collapsed in front of patrol officers, according to a summary by the US Attorney’s Office in Vermont.
“The other two people [qui l’accompagnaient] fled to Canada,” he added. They were then near the Stanstead border crossing in Estrie.
Transported to a hospital, Mr. Leos Cervantes was pronounced dead a few hours later.
His story echoes that of Fritznel Richard, a Haitian asylum seeker who died of hypothermia near Roxham Road last December.
deadly crossing
This time the cause of death of the Mexican migrant has not yet been determined. The temperature was hovering around freezing as he attempted his fateful crossing.
“My father couldn’t find a job for two months, he started to despair,” his daughter Yanahí Leos Reyes told us (see other text).
In addition, a woman of Ecuadorian origin was arrested by American agents and accused of attempting to transport the three people, even though they knew they had broken the country by breaking the law.
She was waiting for the migrants in a car on the side of a small country road in the United States about 500 meters from the border, the summary of the facts also said.
Turning back
The American Border Patrol is heavily deployed due to the growing number of Quebec migrants arriving in the Swanton area of the United States (see table).
PHOTO BY FACEBOOK US BORDER GUARD SECTOR SWANTON
This zone includes the boundary between Hemmingford in Montérégie and Sherbrooke in Estrie.
At least 367 people crossed it in January alone, compared to just 24 at the same time last year, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
Unemployed, he was stressed about the cost of living
Distraught by the piling-up of bills, José Leos Cervantes was convinced an easier life awaited him in the United States, from which he illegally crossed the border last week.
“When it came time to pay the rent, my dad was stressed and didn’t know what to do. He really thought it would be easier there,” his daughter Yanahi Leos Reyes told the Journal with emotion.
His father was used to working as a truck driver in Mexico and had done small painting jobs as a tourist since arriving in Canada last June.
But in recent months, neither he nor his wife or children living in Toronto have had a steady job. In addition, the Queen City housing crisis and inflation have exacerbated the situation.
“We still told him to stay with us, that everything would work out, but he did it his way. He always wanted the best for his family,” sighs Yanahí Leos Reyes.
$3200 to Coyote
José Leos Cervantes therefore decided to pay a coyote, a smuggler, US$3,200 (CA$4,300) to discreetly cross the border, she continues.
On February 19, the 45-year-old took the early morning train from Toronto to Montreal and began his journey between Quebec and Vermont that same evening.
“We promised him it was only a 10-minute walk,” says his 20-year-old daughter in Spanish.
However, the Mexican has always had asthma and was also suffering from a sinus infection that day. He was unwell when border officials intercepted him.
“Then they took him to a hospital, but we didn’t know. All we knew was that immigration authorities had arrested him and we thought they were going to deport him,” the young woman recalls.
inability
But two days later, the Mexican consulate in the United States instead contacted the family to announce the death of their loved one.
His family recently managed to raise thousands of dollars needed to ship his father’s remains to Aguascalientes, where he is from.
Today, Yanahí Leos Reyes thinks back to the circumstances of his death with great helplessness.
“I want to say that money is not everything. The most important thing is health and well-being,” she says, holding her baby girl, who is only a few months old.
Yanahí and her mother are now planning to live in Mexico.
Intercept migrants in Vermont, New York and New Hampshire
- January 2023: 367
- December 2022: 416
- Nov 2022: 396
- October 2022: 334
Source: US Customs and Border Protection
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