A heckler, opposed to the contributions Hillary Clinton's campaign received from private prison corporations, interrupted the Democratic front-runner on Thursday in the midst of a speech she was giving at an awards ceremony.

The former secretary of state was presenting her friend, celebrity chef José Andrés, with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 2015 Medallion of Excellence Award, Politico noted. But heckler Juan Carlos Ramos, a member of the United We Dream activist group, briefly shouted over Clinton's remarks.

The issue of privately run detention centers has haunted Clinton's campaign on a number of occasions, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders -- her chief Democrat rival -- recently seized on the criticism to introduce a bill to outlaw for-profit prisons.

"Our message to Hillary Clinton is simple: Immigrant youth do not trust you. It is time to drop the prison money and stand with our community -- you can't have it both ways," Ramos later said in a statement released by the group. "Each dollar of private prison money accepted by the Clinton campaign undermines her pro-immigrant policy promises, and our community will not be fooled."

Accustomed to similar interruptions, Clinton did not acknowledge the protester at any point during her presentation, CNN detailed. The White House hopeful instead used her appearance to criticize her Republican rivals for their approach to immigration reform.

"Latinos make America stronger. You make American smarter. You make America more creative and innovative. That might be the most obvious thing to say in the world, but as you know too well, many people in our own country don't see how vital Latinos are," she said. "It is a problem when candidates use offensive terms like 'anchor babies' or even talk about changing the Constitution to take citizenship away from those who were born here."

But actress and singer Roselyn Sanchez, who was emceeing the Hispanic Caucus Institute event, noted that she was impressed with politicians' ability to keep talking while being yelled at, Politico noted. "That was real intense," Sanchez said. "My Puerto Rican temper would be like 'Excuse me?'"