Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE in Austin: What We Know as Protests Renew
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The shooting of a Venezuelan man by a federal immigration officer in Texas has reignited protests over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and intensified scrutiny of how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts vehicle stops.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was delivering food for DoorDash on Sunday when a traffic stop by ICE officers ended with him being shot once in the back, according to his account and his attorney. He says officers sideswiped his car without warning and shot him as he turned around and tried to park.
Garces Perez was treated at a hospital but then released into ICE custody with the bullet still in his back, his attorney said. He spent the night at an immigration detention center in South Texas before being taken back to a hospital Monday.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not said what led up to the shooting. In a statement Tuesday, the agency said Garces Perez was "the subject of a targeted vehicle stop" and suggested he had tried to evade arrest, but it gave no further details.
What happened in Austin?
Garces Perez was delivering food for DoorDash on Sunday afternoon when immigration officers in an unmarked truck accosted him, according to Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, his attorney.
Speaking by phone with a translator during a news conference, Garces Perez said the officers did not ask him to stop or turn on flashing lights until after they had sideswiped his car. He said he made a U-turn and was trying to park when officers rammed his car and shot him.
DHS, which oversees ICE, said late Sunday that it is leading an investigation into the shooting with assistance from the FBI. The agency has not released further details.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, the top state prosecutor in Austin, said local authorities are conducting their own investigation. In a letter Tuesday, he asked Homeland Security officials to keep Garces Perez in the U.S. until that investigation is complete.
What is his immigration status?
Garces Perez's attorney says he was an asylum seeker who entered the U.S. legally and had a valid work permit.
Homeland Security said Tuesday that his work permit expired last year and that the agency had a judge's order to remove him from the U.S.
Also Tuesday, a U.S. District Court judge scheduled a Sept. 30 hearing in Garces Perez's case and ordered him to attend. His attorney said the move prohibits ICE from deporting him before then.
Garces Perez came to the U.S. in 2024 under a program started during President Joe Biden's administration that set up appointments with U.S. authorities for people to be considered for asylum, Lincoln-Goldfinch said. President Donald Trump ended the program on his first day in office.
A judge issued a deportation order for Garces Perez after he missed a hearing in immigration court because the hearing notice was sent to a former address, Lincoln-Goldfinch said.
She said nothing about Garces Perez's legal situation justified the way he was shot and apprehended by ICE.
Medical care and detention
Garces Perez was taken Sunday to an Austin hospital. He said doctors did not remove the bullet because it was close to his spine. He said the hospital released him to ICE officers who were eager to move him to a detention center.
He was taken to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about 130 miles (210 kilometers) southwest of Austin, his attorney said. Garces Perez said he spent Sunday night on the floor and had no pain medication until a nurse gave him a pill Monday.
"I am not doing well due to the gunshot wound, and I have not received the medical attention that I require," Garces Perez said by phone at a news conference Monday.
Homeland Security denied Tuesday that Garces Perez had slept on the floor and said he was "receiving medical care around the clock, including pain medication."
Lincoln-Goldfinch said in social media posts Tuesday that after Garces Perez spoke publicly about his lack of treatment, he was taken back to a hospital Monday night. She said he was given morphine for pain, and his family learned the gunshot had fractured his clavicle.
Garces Perez was returned to the detention center around midnight Monday, the lawyer said.
Broader impact
The shooting occurred amid a surge in ICE enforcement across the U.S. during Trump's second term. ICE reported more than 50,000 monthly arrests in July and August — the first time the agency had reached that level.
Immigration officers have come under intense scrutiny for shootings that have occurred during the crackdown.
At least 10 people have died during federal immigration sweeps since Trump returned to office last year. Six of them were fatally shot by federal officers. The others were struck by vehicles or suffered fatal falls while fleeing authorities.
The Austin case has renewed protests over the administration's immigration policies and added to questions about the tactics federal agents use in the field, the treatment of detainees with serious injuries, and how quickly deportation can proceed when local and federal investigations are underway.
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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.