Mexican Man Dies After Crossing Canadian Border Into Vermont 

A Mexican man who crossed the Canadian border into Vermont late on Sunday collapsed and later died after U.S. Border Patrol agents approached him and two companions, authorities said.

The cause and manner of death for Jose Leos Cervantes, 45, are pending after an autopsy on Tuesday, Vermont State Police said in a statement, though his death is not considered suspicious.

According to state police, Border Patrol agents “observed three people illegally entering” the U.S. around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday on Goodall Road in Holland.

“When Border Patrol agents responded and encountered the men, Leos Cervantes collapsed, while the other two men ran back toward Canada,” state police said in the statement. “Agents reported that they immediately provided first aid including CPR to Leos Cervantes.”
Leos Cervantes, of Aguascalientes, Mexico, was taken to North Country Hospital in Newport, where he was pronounced dead. State police were called in around 1 a.m. on Monday to conduct a death investigation.

Border Patrol has yet to release a statement about the incident.

The death comes amid a surge in crossings along the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s 295-mile Swanton Sector, which includes part of New York and all of Vermont and New Hampshire’s border with Canada.

The number of Mexicans crossing into the U.S. along the Swanton Sector has also soared. There were 518 last year — nine times the number from the previous year.