AUSTIN, TX – A Venezuelan man shot by an ICE officer in Austin is heading back to the hospital after being taken to a detention center just south of San Antonio.
We’re learning new details about the moments before and after the shooting.
RELATED: Man shot by ICE agent in Austin now held at Pearsall detention facility, sources say
Advocates speaking out on behalf of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez are calling for his release. They also want any bodycam video immediately released.
Advocates speaking out on behalf of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez are calling for his release. They also want any bodycam video immediately released.
State legislators are joining community advocates, saying they’ve had enough of these ICE operations.
“Abolition now and justice for Wilber,” one woman cried out during a joint press-conference Monday condemning ICE agents for the shooting.
Community leaders are calling for change following the shooting of 28-year-old Garces Perez sunday afternoon.
The Venezuelan man was working as a DoorDash delivery driver when officers shot him. The bullet is reportedly still stuck in his back.
“He was taken only a few hours after being shot,” said Texas District 20 Congressman Joaquin Castro in a post to X. “He was forced out of the hospital, taken from the hospital and what taken to what is known as STIPC in Pearsall, Texas.”
Perez’s attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch also took to social media with updates. Saying her client entered the country lawfully using the CBPone app in search of asylum.
“The immigration court changed his court date without notifying him,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said. “So they held a court date without him present, and he was ordered deported in absentia.”
Goldfinch said he appealed to that decision and lost.
“i’m gonna say it’s common that immigration does make these errors,” said San Antonio Immigration Attorney Alfredo Lozano.
We reached out to his office to ask more about deportation orders and how they’ve been carried out in Texas.
“You do have the right to be notified of the date and time that the hearing is going take place,” Lozano said. “If there’s a change — you have the right to be aware of that change. They have to put you on notice again that there was a change or that it was canceled or rescheduled.”
State Democratic leaders called the shooting another instance of ICE overreach.
“They said they’re going to go after criminals,” said Texas District 35 Representative Greg Casar. “As far as anybody can tell, searching the criminal records, Wilbur had no criminal record.”
“It’s basically abuse that you would take somebody that has been shot and move them from a hospital to a prison,” Castro added.
We’ve also reached out to Texas House Republicans and the office of Governor Greg Abbott for comment about the shooting. We’re still waiting to hear back.
In his video, Congressman Joaquin Castro said Wilber is still in a lot of pain, adding that the bullet is still inside his left side.
Castro and Casar plan to visit him.