Venezuelan man shot by ICE agent as enforcement surges in Austin – The Guardian

Venezuelan man shot by ICE agent as enforcement surges in Austin  The Guardian

The shooting of Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez comes months after increased federal immigration enforcement across the Texas capital The shooting of a man by a federal officer on Sunday in Texas ruptured an ostensibly quiet afternoon amid an immigration enforcement surge in Austin. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been very active in the Texas capital of late, although less showy than the militarized federal violence in Minneapolis this January, helping keep the operation effective but flying under the national radar. Then shots rang out. Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, was in the process of delivering a DoorDash food order on the city’s north side when ICE encountered him shortly before 1pm.

Video posted online appears to show an ICE officer getting out of his car and shooting at Garcés Pérez’s car three times. His car, as later visible at the scene, had a large dent on the front passenger side. Garcés Pérez, who was hit once in the back between his shoulder blades, is a Venezuelan national who has lived in the United States for two years, according to his lawyer, but had been ordered removed from the US. Garcés Pérez told onlookers who rushed to the scene that he had been shot because he hadn’t stopped. Austin police officers who arrived could be seen in bystander footage rendering