Who is ICE arresting in SoCal raids? 7 On Your Side investigates

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- While the U.S. Department of Homeland Security continues to claim ICE agents are going only after violent undocumented criminals, non-violent migrants are being rounded up and deported just the same in what has become a controversial part of the Trump administration's immigration policy.

So exactly who are the people ICE is arresting in these raids in Southern California? 7 on Your Side Investigates spent the day trying to verify the backgrounds of some of the names ICE has provided.

One person now in ICE custody is 49-year-old Cuong Chanh Phan. The feds say the Vietnamese national's criminal history includes second-degree murder. We confirmed that through both court records and our own archives.

Eyewitness News was there in 1994 when police say Cuong was among nearly a dozen gang members who rushed into a San Marino home during a party and started randomly shooting.

ICE also gave us the name and rap sheet of 44-year-old Armando Ordaz of Mexico. We confirmed again through court records his criminal history does in fact include rape, sexual battery and petty theft.

We also were able to verify that Lionel Sanchez-Laguna of Mexico, who is now in ICE custody, also has an extensive criminal history that includes charges of assault, battery and child abuse.

But ICE has released to us so far just about two dozen names of those with a violent past.

Meanwhile, District 14 Councilmember Ysabel Jurado on Monday went to Ambiance, a garment district warehouse that ICE agents raided on Friday. She said those detained were just hard-working migrants.

"These men aren't criminals, they're garment workers," said the councilmember.

Alfonso Flores, who was briefly detained outside a Home Depot in Whittier, seems to support that claim -- that ICE agents aren't targeting only those with violent pasts.

Flores said agents cuffed him, even though he is legally allowed to be in the country.

"I was going to grab my wallet and my phone and they wouldn't let me take it, so I told them hey, it's my wallet and they said ok, any identification? And I said well how am I going to show you if you won't let me get my wallet. So they grabbed my wallet and they saw that I had my identification and everything was good," said Flores.

When it comes to the names with criminal history ICE has given us, 7 On Your Side did ask the agency if they could tell us where they were arrested so we could see if they were arrested in the recent raids or if they were picked up in their homes.

ICE said it was unable to provide further comment.