Officers Capture 26 as Illegal Immigrants Flee Van in Irvine

Police and Border Patrol officers rounded up 26 illegal immigrants Friday afternoon after the moving van that ferried them across the border broke down on the San Diego Freeway and its passengers fled into the surrounding neighborhoods.

The truck stopped about 1:30 p.m. on the freeway near the Jeffrey Road exit, police said. Up to 40 men and women managed to pry open the back door of the trailer and began pouring out, police said.

“They figure, ‘Oh, the ride’s up, so you better scram,’ ” said Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman Ron Rogers.

After nearby residents called police to report people fleeing through their yards and over fences, Irvine officers and Border Patrol agents arrived to corral the fugitives, police said.

The 24 men and two women captured all said they were Mexican citizens, Rogers said. Several others, including the driver, escaped.

The ones who were captured were being processed Friday evening at the San Clemente Border Patrol station and questioned about the smuggler who brought them across, Rogers said. Agents will return them to Mexico, he said.

More stringent enforcement at the border has forced illegal immigrants to be more creative in how they get across, Rogers said.

“They’ve had to resort to more innovative ways to transport people,” such as moving vans, he said.

Rogers said it is less common for illegal immigrants to abandon their rides, like the ones did Friday. He also said it’s more of a hardship now than in the past for them to be captured and returned across the border.

Smugglers used to charge less than $100 to transport someone across the border, but now the going rate is about $200, he said.

“Smugglers’ prices have gone up,” Rogers said, so “being caught really puts a dent in [illegal immigrants’] ability to get across” at a later time.