A Venezuelan man who was shot by an immigration officer while delivering a DoorDash order in Austin, Texas, was taken from the hospital to a detention center with a bullet still in his back, his attorney said Monday. Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez was shot in the back by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer after the officer grazed the 28-year-old’s car on Sunday afternoon, attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch told reporters at a news conference. Garcés Pérez was then taken to the hospital and four hours later his family was notified that he had been taken to the South Texas Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, about a two-hour drive from Austin, Lincoln-Goldfinch said. In an update Tuesday, Lincoln-Goldfinch said a federal judge granted an emergency order to stop Garcés Pérez’s deportation for now. Garcés Pérez spoke by phone during Monday’s news conference and said in Spanish that he was in a lot of pain. He said the bullet was not removed because it was lodged near his spine. “I am not well and I am not receiving the medical attention I need,” Garcés Pérez said, adding that he is being held in a cold room without a bed. Lincoln-Goldfinch said her client also does not have access to pain medication at the detention center. Multiple law enforcement sources told CBS News that the ICE officer who allegedly opened fire on Garcés Pérez has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard for officers involved in pending investigations. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement Sunday night that Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of ICE, is leading the investigation into the shooting with assistance from the FBI. The spokesperson said Garcés Pérez entered the United States illegally under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal. “This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information is available,” the spokesperson said. Lincoln-Goldfinch said Monday that Garcés Pérez entered the United States from Venezuela in 2024 using the Biden-era CBP One application, which allowed more than 900,000 migrants from countries around the world seeking asylum to enter the United States at official ports along the border. southern border after scheduling appointments. Garcés Pérez had a work permit and was seeking asylum, but had received a deportation order in absentia after missing a court hearing because the notice was sent to his old address, his lawyer said. DHS also canceled the parole status of those processed under the CBP One application last year and urged them to leave “immediately.” In April, a federal judge in Boston ordered the Trump administration to restore their legal status, but DHS argued that the president has the authority “to determine who remains in this country.” U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat who represents parts of Austin, said Garcés Pérez has no criminal record and condemned ICE’s presence in the city. Arrests of immigrants without criminal records reached a record level in July, according to federal data. “The vast majority of people detained do not have a criminal record,” Casar said at Monday’s press conference. “ICE has not made us safer by arresting 5-year-olds, shooting delivery drivers, or raiding construction sites. We will all be safer when ICE leaves Austin, Texas.” Lincoln-Goldfinch, Casar and other local officials have called for transparency and demanded that ICE release any body camera footage of the incident. Sources familiar with the investigation tell CBS News that the ICE officer was not wearing a body camera at the time of the shooting on Sunday. Markwayne Mullin had said earlier this month that all ICE agents would be equipped with body cameras by the end of September. The shooting of Garcés Pérez comes a few months after an ICE officer shot and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston in July after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site. Lorenzo Salgado Jr. said his father had lived in the United States for more than three decades. Also in July, an ICE officer shot Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian, in Maine. Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the man was not the target of the ICE operation. And in Evanston, Illinois, on Sunday, federal immigration agents allegedly attempted to arrest a man who turned out to be a U.S. citizen. The man reported injuries to his head, neck and teeth, local police said. Camilo Montoya-Gálvez and Nicole Sganga contributed to this report. Go deeper with The Free Press on:
