Venezuelan man shot by ICE agent during delivery job in Texas
An ICE agent shot and wounded a 28-year-old Venezuelan national in Austin, Texas, who his lawyer says was making a food delivery at the time. Local officials are demanding an independent investigation as the man was later moved into ICE custody despite his lawyer's objections.
Texas officials expressed outrage on Sunday after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan national in Austin. The man, identified by his lawyer as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition after being shot in the torso.
His lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said on X that Garces Perez was shot while making a DoorDash delivery. The shooting occurred amid what Austin Mayor Kirk Watson described as a sharp, sudden increase in ICE operations in the city.
The Department of Homeland Security said Monday it was leading an investigation into the officer, with FBI assistance. It stated on X that the man had entered the country illegally under the Biden administration and had a final removal order, adding that he was in stable condition and in federal custody pending removal.
Calls for independent oversight
Mayor Watson said he was angry and disappointed that someone was shot on Austin's streets, arguing that local law enforcement must be part of the investigation since ICE investigating itself alone would lack credibility. Texas Representative Greg Casar pointed to prior incidents where ICE accounts of shootings did not match video evidence, citing a January case in Minneapolis.
Casar later said Garces Perez had been taken out of the hospital and into ICE custody, warning that deporting him would remove the key witness to the shooting. Lincoln-Goldfinch confirmed her client was in custody but said his location remained unknown.
Several dozen people gathered to protest at the site of the shooting. The incident follows a pattern of aggressive ICE tactics under the Trump administration's intensified immigration crackdown, with nearly 51,000 undocumented migrants arrested nationwide in August alone.
