Venezuelan man shot by ICE in Texas says he’s in pain and still has bullet in his back

Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez spoke from detention as lawmakers and advocates said he’s the victim of an ICE shooting and its “key witness” and shouldn’t be deported.

AUSTIN, Texas — The Venezuelan man shot by ICE in Austin during a traffic stop spoke from immigration detention Monday and said he was in a lot of pain and still had a bullet lodged in his back. Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, was shot early Sunday afternoon by an ICE officer while making deliveries as a DoorDash driver. He is being held in immigration custody at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas. Garcés Pérez said by phone during a news conference Monday that he was shot near the clavicle and that he has not received the medical attention he needs. Lawmakers, advocates and Garcés Pérez’s attorney demanded his release, alleging he was taken from a hospital into custody within four hours with a bullet still lodged in his back.

“Wilber is a victim of the shooting and the most important witness to it. You do not deport the key witness to your own officer’s use of force,” Juan Proaño, the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said during a news conference Monday afternoon that was also attended by Garcés Pérez’s wife. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency to which ICE belongs, said in a statement late Sunday that Garcés Pérez was in stable condition and was in federal