Five days after an encounter with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during a DoorDash delivery on Sunday, September 20, 2026, Garcés Pérez remains in custody with a bullet lodged near his shoulder blades.
The Roadside Encounter and Immediate Hospital Discharged Controversy
Garcés Pérez told his legal team that he was working a DoorDash delivery when he was approached by federal agents. Unaware initially that the individuals attempting to stop him were ICE personnel, he drove a short distance to a safer location before his vehicle was struck by an ICE vehicle, as shown in bystander footage.
Newly released Austin Police Department video indicates that Garcés Pérez had pulled over in a lane of moving traffic about 10 minutes before the shooting, blocked by black SUVs while conversing with two federal agents standing outside his car. Following the subsequent shooting by an unnamed ICE officer—who sources confirmed to CBS News was not wearing a body camera at the time—Austin police officers arrived to render first aid. Responding local officers cut away the man’s shirt to reveal the bullet wound in his upper torso while federal personnel looked on.
Federal officers rapidly removed Garcés Pérez from an Austin hospital on the afternoon of the shooting, transferring him to a detention center roughly 140 miles away, west of San Antonio. According to Democratic Representative Greg Casar of Texas, who visited the detainee, Garcés Pérez was discharged hours after the shooting without an opportunity to speak with his physician, subsequently spending his first night in a processing facility wearing a hospital gown without a bed, in intense pain and cold conditions.
Medical Specialists Warn of Permanent Nerve Damage Risk
As the legal battle intensifies, medical concerns have taken center stage. Garcés Pérez began experiencing a troubling loss of sensation down the left side of his body, prompting renewed hospital visits and evaluations by specialists. Representative Casar, speaking to reporters after visiting the detained Venezuelan at the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, noted that a medical specialist informed the injured driver that he would require surgery to have the bullet removed.
His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, expressed deep frustration over her client’s treatment, noting on X on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that Garcés Pérez was receiving only basic over-the-counter medication. “Today, she tells me he is receiving only Tylenol and ibuprofen for pain,” Lincoln-Goldfinch wrote, adding that he remained isolated on a flat bed without communication tools. A firm timeline for any surgical procedure remains undetermined.
In response to mounting public criticism over medical conditions, the Department of Homeland Security defended its operations. DHS stated on X that the agency provides detainees with comprehensive medical care described as “the best healthcare [many] have received their entire lives.” DHS also disputed allegations regarding detention conditions, though the agency did not respond to media inquiries concerning the specifics of Garcés Pérez’s ongoing medical treatment or the status of the shooting investigation.
Protests, Political Backlash, and the Absence of Body Cameras
The shooting has reverberated across Texas politics, sparking walkouts among middle and high school students across the Austin area who waved Latin American flags and chanted in protest. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Police Chief Lisa Davis have both publicly clarified that local law enforcement officers were not involved in the shooting itself, while city leaders have intensified calls for federal immigration authorities to halt random questioning and traffic stops.
Complicating accountability further, investigative findings revealed that the ICE officer who fired the shots—a former border patrol officer who joined ICE the prior year—was not wearing a body camera. This revelation stands in contrast to statements made earlier in September by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, who asserted that all ICE agents would be outfitted with body-worn cameras by the end of September 2026.
Despite mounting pressure from local officials, student demonstrations, and federal lawmakers including Representative Joaquin Castro—who also visited the detainee—DHS signaled no retreat. “ICE will not be slowing down nor leaving Austin,” the agency declared in a public statement.
Legal Battles Ahead in Federal and Local Courts
Garcés Pérez’s legal future hangs in the balance as multiple legal fronts open. While the federal government maintains an active removal order against him, his defense team has submitted a visa application on the grounds that he is the victim of a violent crime perpetrated by federal agents. Simultaneously, the local attorney general has filed formal correspondence urging federal authorities to keep Garcés Pérez within the United States due to his critical status as a witness in the investigation into his own shooting.
A federal judge has mandated that Garcés Pérez attend an upcoming court hearing where the judiciary will weigh a habeas corpus petition filed by Lincoln-Goldfinch seeking his immediate release from custody. As the legal proceedings unfold, the central question remains whether federal authorities will authorize and expedite the specialized surgery required to prevent permanent injury, even as protesters continue to demand sweeping changes to immigration enforcement protocols in Texas.
