ICE Arrests in LA Include Illegal Aliens Convicted of Murder; Sex Offenders; Other Violent Criminals

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of illegal immigrants as part of the operation in Los Angeles include individuals with heavy criminal histories, which include murder and sexual assault.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) highlighted the reality of the criminal illegal aliens they are going after in Los Angeles while Mexican flag riots break out in protest of ICE’s actions.

Describing these as some of the “worst” criminals they went after, the Department of Homeland Security provided pictures and a description for some of the illegals arrested in their operations.

One of those individuals is an illegal alien named Lionel Sanchez-Laguna, hailing from Mexico. According to DHS, his lengthy criminal history includes “discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling and vehicle in Orange, CA with a sentence of 365 days in jail, battery on spouse or cohabitant in Orange, CA with a sentence of four years of probation, willful cruelty to child in Orange, CA with a sentence of four years of probation, driving under the influence in Orange, CA with a sentence of ten days in jail, assault with semi-automatic firearm in Orange, CA with a sentence of three years in prison, and personal use of a firearm in Orange, CA with a sentence of three years in prison.”

California Highway Patrol officers arrest a protester on the 101 Freeway during an anti-ICE protest in downtown Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025.  (BENJAMIN HANSON/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Armando Ordaz is another illegal immigrant, 44, arrested from Mexico. His criminal history includes sexual battery in Los Angeles — where the rioters are protesting such arrests — as well as petty theft and receiving known or stolen property.

Thirty-eight-year-old illegal immigrant Francisco Sanchez-Arguello is among illegal aliens hailing from Mexico whom ICE arrested. His criminal history includes grand theft larceny and possession of a prohibited weapon, according to DHS.

Victor Mendoza-Aguilar, 32, is another arrested illegal immigrant hailing from Mexico. Criminal history includes “possessing unlawful paraphernalia in Pasadena, CA with a sentence of 112 days jail, possessing controlled substances in Pasadena, CA with a sentence of 16 months in jail, assault with a deadly weapon: not firearm in Pasadena, CA with a sentence of four years in prison; obstructing a public officer in Pasadena, CA with a sentence of 364 days in jail,” according to DHS.

Delfino Aguilar-Martinez, 51, also from Mexico, has a criminal history including assault with a deadly weapon with great bodily injury in Los Angeles.

Jesus Alan Hernandez-Morales, 26, is also an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was arrested. His criminal history includes “conspiracy to transport an illegal alien in Las Cruces, NM with a sentence of 239 days in jail,” per DHS.

However, it does not end there. DHS also highlighted several non-Mexican illegal immigrants arrested in the operations. Perhaps one of the most notorious is 49-year-old Cuong Chanh Phan from Vietnam. The gang-affiliated member has a conviction for second degree murder, and DHS highlighted some of the atrocities of his past:

According to local reports in 1994, Phan and his gang member associates were asked to leave a high school graduation party following a dispute. They returned with semiautomatic weapons and fired shots at 30 partygoers. Dennis Buan, 18, of South Pasadena and David Hang, 15, of San Marino, California were killed, and seven others were wounded.

Following the shooting, more than 120 sheriff’s deputies and police officers launched a manhunt that resulted in the arrests of Phan and eight other alleged gang members linked to the murders and shootout.

ICE also arrested 55-year-old Rolando Veneracion-Enriquez — an illegal immigrant from the Philippines. Criminal history includes burglary as well as “sexual penetration with a foreign object with force and assault with intent to commit rape,” the latter of which occurred in Pomona, CA.

Jose Gregorio Medranda Ortiz is a 42-year-old immigrant from Ecuador whom ICE arrested. His criminal history includes “conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more cocaine while on board a vessel in Tampa, FL with a sentence of 135 months in prison,” per DHS.

Others arrested by ICE in Los Angeles include Jordan Mauricio Meza-Esquibel, 32, from Honduras, with a criminal history including distribution of cocaine and heroin and domestic violence, as well as Peruvian national Jose Cristobal Hernandez-Buitron, who was convicted of robbery.

“Why do Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass care more about violent murderers and sex offenders than they do about protecting their own citizens?” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin asked in a statement, noting that the rioters in LA are essentially  “fighting to keep rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals loose on Los Angeles streets.”

“Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers every single day who wake up and make our communities safer,” she added.

All the while, Democrat leaders in California continue to blame the Trump administration for the riots, and now, the state of California filing a lawsuit challenging Trump’s order federalizing the National Guard.