ICE agent shoots and wounds Venezuelan migrant in Texas
The victim was in serious condition at a hospital in Austin after being shot during a traffic stop. His wife was kept in the dark, her attorney says
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan man Sunday in Austin, Texas, prompting local authorities to demand an independent investigation into the incident.
In a video shared on social media, a blue Toyota Corolla is seen crashing into a SUV. Following the crash, gunshots are heard and the blue car slows down. A man runs up to the driver’s door.
Immigration attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch, who represents the affected family, said on Instagram that the wounded man is a 28-year-old Venezuelan national named Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez who was working as a food delivery driver.
According to the lawyer, the victim’s wife went to the Dell Seton Medical Center to inquire about her husband, but received no information and was kept in the dark.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spoksperson told EL PAÍS that the victim had “entered illegally” under the Joe Biden admnistration and that he has a deportation order. The man was said to be in a stable condition and in federal custody awaiting deportation.
On Sunday afternoon, local news outlets reported on dozens of protesters marching near the scene of the shooting, and being confronted by law enforcement officers with tear gas.
Independent investigation
Mayor Kirk Watson condemned a type of act that has happened in other cities across the U.S. and called for an independent investigation involving the city’s police department so it can provide “clear, third-party eyes.”
Congressmember Greg Casar, who represents Austin, said on X that if Garcés Pérez is deported, the key witness in the shooting will be gone. Casar advocated for keeping him in the United States and giving him proper medical attention.
The episode comes just over two months after ICE shot the immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston during an operation in which he was mistaken for someone else, the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged. The Mexican man died shortly after, and the incident sparked large protests in the city.
The Donald Trump administration has pushed its immigration agents to carry out a record number of arrests. To achieve that, they have used violent tactics that have been condemned by civil rights organizations and eyewitnesses at scenes in Chicago, Minneapolis, Houston and in almost every major city in the country.
In January of this year, those tactics led to the deaths of two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, when more than 3,000 ICE officers were deployed in Minneapolis.
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