Border Patrol arrests two men linked to Sureño gang entering U.S.

San Diego —  U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested two men with ties to a Los Angeles gang who were seen crossing the border Thursday evening about 3 ½ miles east of the Calexico port of entry, according to the agency.

The men, ages 26 and 22, are Mexican citizens and, according to the agency, admitted to affiliations with the L.A.-based Sureño gang. The men have no criminal records, but one had been returned to Mexico several times in civil proceedings.

They jumped the border fence in a flat area of agricultural fields, irrigation canals and dirt roads and proceeded on foot into the country, according to Alessio Faccin, spokesman for the El Centro sector of Border Patrol. He said two roads run from that area to Highway 98. For most trying to cross the border without permission, getting to a main thoroughfare is key to disappearing into the U.S.

The two men will be returned to Mexico, Faccin said. Using a process called expedited removal, border officials will not be required to take them to see an immigration judge. Instead, the office can determine that they are inadmissible to the U.S. and send them back across the border.

Faccin said that because the agency had proof the men had entered illegally and planned to stay, they were administratively charged with illegal entry. That is not a criminal charge, but it does block border-crossers from obtaining permission to enter the U.S. for five years.

Those sent back are not generally criminally charged with illegal entry unless they are known to be chronic offenders, commit other crimes or have criminal histories. Neither man was criminally charged in this case, according to Faccin.

kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com

Morrissey writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune