A federal judge has temporarily blocked the deportation of a Venezuelan man shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Austin, Texas, as his attorneys seek his release and authorities investigate the shooting.
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia issued an order in Texas on Sept. 22 requiring the injured individual, 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, to appear in person at a Sept. 30 court hearing in San Antonio. The order prevents his removal while the court considers his request for emergency relief.
Perez’s attorneys filed a petition challenging his detention and a motion seeking his release and a halt to his deportation. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says he is in the country illegally and has a final removal order.
Perez was back in federal detention Sept. 22 after his second hospital visit since the Sept. 20 shooting, according to his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.
The attorney said Perez was making a DoorDash delivery when ICE officers in an unmarked truck sideswiped his car twice. He was subsequently shot and hospitalized, she said, adding that Perez was then released into ICE custody with a bullet still lodged in his back.
DHS said Perez was the subject of a targeted vehicle stop and accused him of attempting to evade arrest. The agency has not provided a detailed account of what prompted the officer to fire.
“Resisting officers and evading arrest is dangerous for our officers, illegal aliens, and the public,” DHS said in a Sept. 22 statement.
DHS Disputes Claims About Medical Care
DHS rejected allegations from Perez and his lawyers that he had received no pain medication and had been forced to sleep on a floor.
Perez’s attorneys said in court filings that he slept on a cement floor at a temporary ICE processing center before being transferred to a detention facility in Pearsall, Texas. They also alleged that officers questioned him without an attorney present.
DHS said he received medical care around the clock, including pain medication, and slept in a bed after arriving at the detention facility. It also said ICE does not direct hospital decisions about medical procedures, including whether to remove a bullet.
“Contrary to their claims, this person is an illegal alien who has no legal status to be here and has been given some of the best medical care he’s ever received in his life,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.
The two sides also disputed his immigration history. Lincoln-Goldfinch said he entered in 2024 through the Biden administration’s CBP One appointment program, sought asylum, and had a valid work permit. She said he missed an immigration hearing because notice went to a former address.
DHS said his work permit expired in 2025, he has no protective status, and an immigration judge had ordered him removed in his absence.
“No amount of smears and false narratives will slow down ICE from doing its job by removing dangerous illegal aliens from our communities and making America safe again,” said Mullin, who accused mainstream media, “far-left activists,” and sanctuary politicians of spreading falsehoods about the incident.
The Travis County District Attorney’s Office separately asked DHS and ICE on Sept. 22 to halt Garces Perez’s removal while the shooting investigation continues.
District Attorney Jose Garza wrote in a Sept. 22 letter that the investigation into the incident would be “severely hindered” if Perez were to be deported.
DHS has said Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI are leading the probe. Austin police have also said their investigators and the Texas Rangers are examining the shooting.
Austin police released body camera footage on Sept. 22 showing the aftermath of the incident. Perez can be seen hunched in his car, holding his shoulder and rocking back and forth. An officer later cuts away his shirt, exposing a wound in his upper back.
The footage does not show what led to the shooting.
Jacki Thrapp and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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