ICE officer shoots, wounds Venezuelan man during Texas raid

An illegal immigrant was shot on Sunday afternoon during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in Austin, Texas, local officials said at a Sunday news conference. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, released a Monday statement identifying the injured man as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who had worked as a DoorDash driver. Casar added that federal officials still aimed to deport the man, who was transferred from the hospital into ICE custody. Federal officials can’t shoot someone and then make the person disappear to avoid the consequences, he said.

City officials demand transparency and answers from federal officials, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at the news conference. Austin’s special investigations unit and the Texas Rangers will investigate, alongside Homeland Security officials, but not many details can be shared at this time, Davis said.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson condemned the shooting during the same Sunday press conference. The mayor said he was angry and upset but not surprised, since this type of shooting has happened in other cities before. Homeland Security and ICE are legally obligated to share information with Congress, which will then be shared with the public, said Casar at the same news conference.

What has DHS said about the shooting? Homeland Security planned to investigate the officer involved in the shooting with the FBI, according to an early Monday morning statement from DHS. The statement identified the injured man as a Venezuelan national who illegally entered the United States under the previous administration. He had a final removal order during the law enforcement operation, during which the shooting took place, the statement said. Officials moved the man to federal custody from the hospital after his health had stabilized, with pending removal from the country, DHS added.

The latest nonfatal shooting came days after an ICE officer pleaded not guilty to lying to federal investigators about the conditions of a separate nonfatal ICE-involved shooting earlier this year. Prosecutors charged ICE officer Christian Castro with lying about an immigration operation in Minneapolis that ended with an illegal immigrant being shot in the leg.