Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE Officer in Texas Sparks Protests

A Venezuelan man is recovering from a gunshot wound after being shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during a traffic stop in Austin, Texas, an incident that has ignited fresh protests over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was delivering food for DoorDash on Sunday afternoon when the encounter occurred. According to his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, immigration officers in an unmarked truck sideswiped his vehicle without warning. Perez said the officers did not activate flashing lights or signal him to stop until after the collision. He attempted a U-turn to park, but the officers rammed his car and shot him once in the back of the neck.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said Perez was "the subject of a targeted vehicle stop" and suggested he had tried to evade arrest, but provided no further details. The agency said it is leading an investigation with assistance from the FBI.

Perez was taken to an Austin hospital, where doctors opted not to remove the bullet because it was lodged near his spine. He was subsequently released into ICE custody and transferred to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about 130 miles southwest of Austin. His attorney said he spent Sunday night on the floor without pain medication until a nurse provided a pill on Monday. DHS denied that he slept on the floor and said he was receiving round-the-clock medical care, including pain medication.

After Perez spoke publicly about his lack of treatment at a news conference Monday, his attorney said he was taken back to a hospital that night, where he received morphine and his family learned the gunshot had fractured his clavicle. He was returned to the detention center around midnight.

Perez entered the U.S. in 2024 under a Biden-era program that allowed asylum seekers to schedule appointments with authorities. President Donald Trump ended the program on his first day in office. Lincoln-Goldfinch said Perez had a valid work permit, but DHS said the permit expired last year and that a judge had issued a removal order after Perez missed a hearing because the notice was sent to a former address.

Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza said local authorities are conducting their own investigation and has asked Homeland Security to keep Perez in the U.S. until that inquiry concludes. On Wednesday, a U.S. District Court judge scheduled a Sept. 30 hearing in Perez's case and ordered him to attend, which his attorney said prevents ICE from deporting him beforehand.

The shooting comes amid a surge in ICE enforcement, with the agency reporting more than 50,000 monthly arrests in July and August. At least 10 people have died during federal immigration sweeps since Trump returned to office, six of them fatally shot by federal officers.