Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrested one person at the Hidalgo County Courthouse on Thursday.
According to Nina Pruneda, Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement Spokeswoman, Erika Gonzalez Zuniga, 42, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations officers.
A release stated that Zuniga is a citizen of Mexico who is illegally present in the United States. Zuniga has multiple convictions for theft between 2003 and 2010 and was issued a final order of removal by a federal immigration judge on January 4, 2005, and has multiple illegal entries into the United States.
Pruneda added that current ICE policy directs agency personnel to avoid conducting enforcement activities at sensitive locations unless they have prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official or in the event of exigent circumstances. The locations include schools, places of worship, and hospitals.
In a statement, Pruneda said,
Under ICE policy, courthouses are not considered sensitive locations. In such instances where officers seek to conduct an arrest at a courthouse, every effort is made to take the person into custody in a secure area, out of public view, for the safety of those involved.
