Venezuelan man shot by ICE officer transferred to detention center with bullet lodged in back
A 28-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker who was shot by an ICE officer in Austin was moved to a detention facility while still carrying a bullet near his spine, and his lawyer says he is not receiving adequate medical care.
A Venezuelan national, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, was shot in the back by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer after the officer sideswiped his car while he was delivering a DoorDash order in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. He was taken to a hospital and, four hours later, transferred to the South Texas Processing Center in Pearsall, a two-hour drive from Austin, according to his attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.
Garces Perez spoke to reporters in Spanish, saying he was in significant pain and that the bullet had not been removed because it was close to his spine. He added that he was being held in a cold room without a bed and lacked access to pain medication.
ICE placed the officer on administrative leave, a standard procedure for officers under investigation. The Department of Homeland Security said Homeland Security Investigations, with FBI assistance, is leading the probe. A DHS spokesperson noted that Garces Perez entered the United States illegally and has a final order of removal.
Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez entered the U.S. in 2024 using the CBP One app, held a work permit, and was seeking asylum, but missed a court hearing after a notice was sent to an outdated address, resulting in a deportation order in absentia. She and local officials have called for the release of any body-camera footage, stating that the public deserves more than the agency’s account of the shooting.
U.S. Representative Greg Casar, who represents parts of Austin, said Garces Perez has no criminal record and criticized ICE’s presence in the city, noting that most people stopped by ICE have no criminal history. The incident follows other recent shootings involving ICE officers, including the July killing of a Houston construction worker and a July shooting of a Colombian man in Maine.