Democrat lawmakers review ICE shootings
Texas U.S. Rep. Greg Casar and other Democratic members of Congress hosted a hearing Thursday on ICE’s actions in connection to the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin.
AUSTIN, Texas – U.S. Rep. Greg Casar and other Democratic members of Congress held a hearing Thursday on ICE’s actions in connection to the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin.
The hearing also discussed other recent ICE shootings, including those of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
What they’re saying:
This was called a shadow hearing, which happens when lawmakers don’t have the majority to hold an official hearing. They’ve also done these hearings on ICE in Chicago and Minneapolis.
Rep. Casar read a statement from Garces-Perez’s wife during the hearing.
“After surgery, he has not even fully woken up from the anesthesia when they already had him handcuffed again and ready to take him back to jail where he remains to this day. Overnight, the life of a young man full of light and health changed drastically behind bars. This is the first time in his life he’s set foot in a prison and being locked up while innocent while suffering from paralysis and intense pain and seeing himself unjustly deprived of his freedom, has plunged him into a severe and devastating crisis of anxiety and depression,” he read.
Attorneys with the Texas Immigration Law Council say the identity of the agent who shot him has not been released, and the agent wasn’t wearing a body camera. The second agent turned off his camera.
“This is clearly problematic because we repeatedly hear stories of people that are being violently assaulted by ICE agents,” Kristin Etter with the Texas Immigration Law Council said.
Austin Police and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office have requested evidence from federal agents multiple times, but those requests have not been fulfilled. ICE has stated that Garces-Perez had a removal order.
“It is very important we have transparency and accountability in these cases,” Etter said.
Casar says only five percent of people in ICE detention have criminal convictions. The Trump administration has said violent criminals need to be deported.
Other ICE shootings
Big picture view:
At the hearing, lawmakers also brought up multiple other cases of people being injured or killed by ICE.
In Houston, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot in July.
Ruben Ray Martinez was a U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by DHS in South Padre while driving with a friend in 2025. His mother, Rachel Reyes, describes a lack of transparency.
“Throughout the whole entire process, I didn’t hear from them once,” she said.
Lawmakers describe the same pattern in ICE shootings.
“They are also refusing to provide any requested information on evidence to local police investigators,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said.
Proposed solutions
Lawmakers proposed legislation to require body cameras for all DHS agencies. They also want to eliminate private, for-profit detention centers and end federal agreements with local agencies to do immigration enforcement.
ICE has rejected a government report recommendation to automatically activate body cameras, claiming it could create privacy concerns.
The other side:
Meanwhile, Casar’s Republican opponent, Lauren Pena, told FOX 7 Austin in a statement:
“It’s saddening to see Greg Casar and a small group of activists devote so much attention to this issue while residents continue to struggle with affordability and public safety. Any officer-involved shooting deserves a fair, fact-based review. It should never become an opportunity to score political points.
My team and I have knocked on thousands of doors across the district, and the priorities we hear from residents do not match the political rhetoric. People want practical solutions that make their communities safer and their lives more affordable.
We also hear from immigrants who came here legally and invested years of time, effort, and money to become American citizens. Many feel betrayed when elected leaders appear more focused on defending those who violate immigration laws than respecting the sacrifices of those who followed them.
Our community deserves leadership focused on affordable living, safe neighborhoods, and equal treatment under the law.”
What happened in the ICE shooting on Sept. 20 in Austin?
The backstory:
Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Rob Luckritz said emergency crews were notified of a reported shooting at about 12:56 p.m. in the 8000 block of Anderson Square.
Paramedics arrived within about 3 1/2 minutes and found an adult man with a gunshot wound. The man was transported to a local trauma center in serious but stable condition.
APD Chief Lisa Davis initially stated that the shooting involved a federal agent and later confirmed she had been told the agent was with ICE. Austin police were not involved in the shooting.
RELATED COVERAGE: Austin ICE shooting: Rep. Greg Casar visits Venezuelan man shot by ICE agent
Perez told immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch that he was driving for DoorDash on Sunday when an unmarked car sideswiped him. He did not know it was ICE.
He told Lincoln-Goldfinch that he did a U-turn under the highway and was then sideswiped again. He then said the agents got out of the unmarked car and shot him in the back of the neck. They then pulled him from the car.
RELATED COVERAGE: Austin ICE shooting: New details released on man shot by ICE agents
Lincoln-Goldfinch said there was no foot chase. However, ICE said there was a foot chase.
DHS officials have confirmed that Perez is from Venezuela and say he entered the country illegally and had a final order of removal.
Perez was taken into federal custody to the South Texas ICE processing center in Pearsall.
Austin police release ICE shooting footage 
New video released by APD appears to show Perez was involved in a traffic stop with federal agents before leading them on a pursuit, minutes before he was shot by a federal agent.
APD released video captured on an off-duty APD detective’s personal dashcam and cellphone, as well as body camera footage from an on-duty officer.
RELATED COVERAGE: Austin ICE shooting: APD releases body cam footage, cellphone video
Reports last week by The Atlantic and FOX News indicated there may be no body camera footage from ICE’s perspective of the incident.
Multiple federal law enforcement sources told FOX News that there is no ICE bodycam footage from the incident, FOX’s Bill Melugin said last week on social media.
The Atlantic’s Nick Miroff also stated that three DHS officials had told him that the officer was a “recent hire who was not wearing his body camera.”
So far, the APD videos are the only footage that has been publicly released.
The Source: Information from office of Texas U.S. Rep. Greg Casar’s office and previous reporting.