Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, the Venezuelan man who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during a traffic stop in Austin, Texas, had a bullet removed from his back Thursday, nearly two weeks after the shooting.
“Good news: Wilber Garces Perez finally had surgery to remove the bullet that was in his back for 11 days,” Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) wrote in a social media post.
“It took far too long, and it’s more proof of ICE cruelty. But we kept up the pressure, and Wilber got the care he needed,” Casar added.
Garces Perez, 28, was shot in the back by an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officer Sept. 20 during a traffic stop while he was making DoorDash deliveries.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, arrives to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, to visit Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a Venezuelan man who was shot by an ICE officer in Austin. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
" data-large-file="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26266706540211.jpg?w=696" src="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26266706540211.jpg" alt="U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, arrives to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, to visit Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a Venezuelan man who was shot by an ICE officer in Austin. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP)" class="wp-image-4752406" srcset="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26266706540211.jpg 1024w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26266706540211.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26266706540211.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26266706540211.jpg?resize=150,100 150w, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/AP26266706540211.jpg?resize=696,464 696w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) arrives at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, to visit Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan man who was shot by an ICE officer in Austin. (Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
This week, the Justice Department announced that Garces Perez had been charged with assaulting, resisting, interfering with, or impeding a federal officer.
According to a criminal complaint, ICE officers ordered Garces Perez to put his vehicle in park and get out after pulling him over. After receiving additional instructions in Spanish, Garces Perez allegedly closed his window and drove away.
The complaint alleged that Garces Perez’s vehicle struck one of the ICE officers in the torso with the driver’s-side mirror as he drove away. Body-camera footage from one of the officers captured the initial encounter, according to prosecutors.
A federal judge ruled Thursday that the case against Garces Perez should proceed after prosecutors presented the body-cam footage in court. His attorneys have said he was in severe pain and urgently needed surgery. Garces Perez was being held at an ICE detention facility in Texas.
The defense has disputed the government’s account of the shooting and the allegation that Garces Perez struck an officer with his vehicle. The defense argued that federal investigators could not confirm whether the officer was hit by the mirror because investigators had not interviewed the officer directly. Attorneys also questioned why the officer allegedly struck by the mirror was not wearing a body camera.
Garces Perez’s immigration attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, accused ICE of denying him necessary medical treatment for his wound.
“ICE’s conduct has been so egregious that physicians, nurses, medical ethicists, and health advocates have come together to demand his release,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said outside court following the hearing.
The Department of Homeland Security has disputed claims that Garces Perez was denied appropriate medical care, saying in a fact sheet released shortly after the shooting that ICE does not determine whether a bullet should be surgically removed.
Venezuelan man shot by ICE facing charges of assaulting officer
Lincoln-Goldfinch has also disputed the circumstances surrounding Garces Perez’s immigration case. She said he entered the United States legally in 2024 through a Biden-era immigration program that President Donald Trump ended after taking office.
“The immigration court sent a notice for a hearing to an old address,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said shortly after the shooting. “Happens all the time. Not a reason to get shot in the street in the United States of America.”
Continue reading...
[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
