Venezuelan man shot by ICE agent in Austin as enforcement intensifies

A federal immigration officer shot a Venezuelan delivery driver in Austin on Sunday, drawing hundreds of protesters to the scene and intensifying scrutiny over a sharp rise in unilateral ICE operations.

Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, was delivering a DoorDash order on the city’s north side shortly before 1pm when the encounter began. Video footage shows the officer exiting a vehicle and firing three shots at the driver’s mostly stationary sedan. Garcés Pérez, a Venezuelan national who has lived in the United States for two years and faces a removal order, was struck once in the back between his shoulder blades.

After initial treatment at a downtown hospital, ICE transferred Garcés Pérez to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, 140 miles to the south-west, later that Sunday afternoon. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, confirmed the man remains in custody and shared his condition via text: “Bullet still lodged in his back. No pain meds.”

Witnesses and police footage captured the chaotic aftermath. Austin officers arrived to render first aid and later helped federal agents handcuff the bleeding man. Local leaders have called for the Austin police department and the Texas Rangers to join the official probe led by the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, citing public distrust in federal authorities. They also demanded the involved agent remain in Texas until the inquiry concludes.

“I think it needs to be said that as mayor of the city of Austin, I’m very angry about this,” Mayor Kirk Watson said during a Sunday press conference. He noted that the shooting aligns with the increasingly aggressive tactics ICE has employed nationwide.

The incident has unfolded against a backdrop of heightened immigration enforcement across Austin’s immigrant-heavy neighborhoods and surrounding suburbs. City council member José “Chito” Vela reported that ICE has shifted from relying on state troopers to conducting its own stops in traffic, parking lots, and gas stations. Congressman Greg Casar has formally requested an independent federal review, full video release, and accountability for any misconduct.

Within an hour of the shooting, more than a hundred demonstrators gathered near the highway median where federal agents had taken position. Protesters waved Mexican, American, and Guatemalan flags and reported being sprayed with teargas or chemical irritants. The demonstrations continued late into the night, resulting in several arrests as local and state police maintained a perimeter around the federal officers.