Official: ICE Agents Arrest Undocumented Transgender Woman At Courthouse Who Was Filing Domestic Violence Claim
EL PASO, Texas (CBS) -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reportedly arrested an undocumented transgender woman at a Texas courthouse who was filing a domestic violence claim at a Texas courthouse.
CBS affiliate KDBC-TV reports the incident took place at the El Paso County Courthouse last week.
El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal said ICE agents followed the woman into the hallway after getting the protective order granted by a judge.
"This is a woman who had suffered serious abuse," Bernal told KDBC. "We were stunned that ICE would go to these lengths for someone that is not a violent criminal."
Bernal said this is the first time something like this has happened involving immigration agents at the courthouse in her 20 years there.
"I cannot recall an instance where ICE agents have gone into the domestic violence court, specifically looking for a victim of domestic violence," she explained to KDBC.
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Bernal believes ICE received a tip about the woman because there were no warrants out for her.
"I'm suspicious that the tip may have come from the abuser, who knew precisely where the victim would be at that time and date since he had received notice to be in that courtroom as well," Bernal told KDBC.
The county attorney's office told KDBC the woman did come into the United States multiple times. An affidavit obtained by KDBC shows the woman was removed from the U.S. six times by federal agents, and voluntarily returned to Mexico one other time.
The woman was previously convicted in 2010 for false imprisonment-minor-parental; in 2011 for assault, probation violation, and domestic violence; and in 2013 for false imprisonment.
She is currently being held at the El Paso County Jail under a federal ICE detainer.