A federal judge has halted the deportation of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan immigrant, after he was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Austin, Texas, over the weekend. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, filed a federal lawsuit on his behalf. The judge ordered Perez to be present at a hearing scheduled for September 30, ensuring his deportation is temporarily blocked as the case proceeds.
Lincoln-Goldfinch announced the development on Facebook, stating that the deportation block provides time to address his medical needs and protect his rights. Perez remains in significant pain, and the bullet from the incident is still in his body, necessitating ongoing medical care. The shooting occurred while Perez was delivering a DoorDash order and making a U-turn under a highway. Despite updating his address with the court, authorities had issued his removal order after sending the immigration hearing notice to an old address.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza has formally requested that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE Director David Venturella allow Perez to stay in the U.S. while the shooting is investigated. Representative Greg Casar and over 100 Congress members co-signed a letter demanding Perez’s release from ICE detention for necessary medical treatment and to ensure his role as a key witness in the investigation. They urged state authorities to preserve all shooting-related evidence, citing concerns about ICE’s past investigation handling.
The ICE officer involved is an agency recruit with extensive law enforcement experience, including time with the U.S. Border Patrol. Reports indicate the officer did not wear a body camera during the incident, although all ICE officers are expected to be equipped with cameras by the end of the month. Training records show the officer completed the Deportation Officer Training Program and scored highly on use-of-force and other procedural qualifications.
In the aftermath, Democrats criticized ICE, characterizing it as a “rogue” agency. Separately, DHS released a list of illegal immigrants arrested in Texas for various offenses, including child sex offenses and supporting a mass shooting plot. The list also highlighted a case involving a Mexican national soliciting the murder of ICE agents via a TikTok video.