AUSTIN, Texas — Eight Democratic U.S. representatives gathered at Austin Community College Thursday to hold what they called a shadow hearing into ICE shootings in Texas, including the shooting of Wilber Garces Perez.
Members at the hearing said Republicans had been invited but did not attend.
The hearing came three and a half weeks after Garces Perez was shot in the back by an ICE officer and then taken into detention. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, D-Mississippi, the ranking member, said the incident was part of a broader pattern.
“Unfortunately, what happened to Wilbur is not new. Since the beginning of Trump’s violent mass deportation campaign. There have been three known incidents in Texas where ICE officers shot immigrants and citizens alike,” Thompson said.
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Democratic members said the shadow hearing also focused on the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and other cases. Four witnesses testified, including an ACLU attorney representing Garces Perez and Araujo’s family.
“On the morning of July 7th, 2026, a good man was taken from this world. Senseless violence committed against our people by our federal government. We still don’t know what happened,” testified Catalina Rivera Nelson, an ACLU attorney.
After the hearing, Rep. Greg Casar told reporters, “I will say that we are ready at any time, whoever is in charge, to change this system from one that is killing innocent people and arresting kids to one that actually is legal, orderly, and safe.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, said Republicans have not pursued immigration legislation or accountability measures. “His Republican majority has not had any interest in moving forward positive immigration legislation or holding anyone accountable. So we have been making our plan already for sort of three things if we are back in the chairs of governance again,” Jayapal said.
Jayapal said a Democratic majority would hold ICE accountable, pass immigration enforcement reform and hold more hearings.
Thompson also criticized Congress being out of session, saying, “The reason we are out of session all this year is that they didn’t want to deal with the tough issues. Immigration is a tough issue. But… Go home and do nothing is not what the good people of this country elected us to do. Democrats are prepared to work. But in order to do it, there’s something about who’s in charge.”
Early voting in Texas begins next Monday.