Federal prosecutors in Texas charged 28-year-old Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez with assaulting, resisting, and impeding a federal officer after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sideswiped his car and shot him in the back without warning in North Austin. Garcés Pérez, an asylum seeker and DoorDash delivery driver supporting a son with mobility disabilities in Venezuela, remains detained after a federal judge ruled him a flight risk, while Austin communities rally demanding his release and specialized medical care for the bullet still lodged in his spine.
Truthout reported that Garcés Pérez entered the United States in 2024 with a valid work permit under a humanitarian program initiated by former President Joe Biden. President Donald Trump terminated the program on his first day in office. According to defense attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, a deportation order was issued against Garcés Pérez after he missed an immigration court hearing because the notice was mailed to a former address. On September 20, as Garcés Pérez was turning his vehicle around to park while completing a food delivery, ICE agents ran his license plate and tracked him before the shooting occurred.
Community Protests and Arrests Erupt Across Austin
Witness Toast Lopez told Prism he heard the gunshots while walking home along the route and rushed to check on anyone involved. Lopez stated that agents pulled Garcés Pérez from the vehicle and immediately pointed a weapon at him when he crossed the street to assist. The incident sparked immediate outrage, drawing crowds to the North Austin site to protest against ICE, the Austin Police Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Stella Carlson, a witness to the protests, said the entire community mobilized quickly because local residents view the neighborhood as their home. Demonstrations led to at least six arrests on the day of the shooting, followed by the arrest of an Austin City Council candidate on September 26 while walking a dog. State troopers charged the candidate with rioting, citing government records, phone logs, and social media activity.
Garcés Pérez Lacks Medication and Sleeps on Concrete Floor
Following the shooting, an ambulance transported Garcés Pérez to Dell Seton Medical Center, where his wife and attorney were barred from visiting him before returning him to federal custody. Legal filings from Lincoln-Goldfinch’s team note that Garcés Pérez was forced to sleep on a concrete floor at a temporary processing center overnight before being transferred at 4 a.m. on September 28 to the South Texas ICE Processing Facility in Pearsall. During a news conference accessed via a facility tablet, Garcés Pérez stated that he had not received medication and was losing sensation on the left side of his body. Lincoln-Goldfinch reported on X that detention guards forcibly seized the tablet, revoked his communication access, and moved him from the infirmary to an isolated room featuring a stationary flat bed rather than an adjustable medical bed. He was subsequently transported to a second hospital that night, though the bullet remains embedded in his spine.
Texas Intensifies Border Controls Through Operation Lone Star
The enforcement action against Garcés Pérez unfolds against the backdrop of sharply intensified immigration controls in Texas. Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in 2021, dedicating more than $11 billion to border infrastructure and enforcement initiatives. Two years later, Texas enacted one of the country’s strictest state immigration laws, granting local and state police the authority to arrest and deport undocumented individuals who crossed the border from Mexico. Following the Trump administration’s nationwide crackdown and expanded ICE raids, average daily immigration arrests in Texas more than doubled from 85 under the Biden administration to 176 under Trump. Vladimir Herrera, a member of the grassroots advocacy group Dare To Struggle Austin, observed a steady rise in community detentions starting in February and March, noting that federal agent presence peaked around July near a flea market at North Lamar and West Rundberg where dozens of vendors operate.
