A Venezuelan DoorDash driver who was shot by ICE agents in Texas has been moved to a detention center after the agency pressed for his quick release despite the bullet still lodged in his back.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, said that his doctors weren’t able to remove the bullet lodged near his spine before he was moved into US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Texas on Monday.
‘I am not doing well due to the gunshot wound and I have no received the medical attention I require,’ Perez said by phone at a news conference while being detained at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall.
Perez had been making a DoorDash delivery in Austin on Sunday when his car was ‘sideswiped’ twice by ICE agents in an unmarked car, immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch told reporters Monday.
He had been pulled over by agents at around 12.45pm on Sunday. He allegedly fled in his car from officers, who caught up with him a short time later, a source told the New York Times.
Perez said the officers did not ask him to stop or turn on any flashing lights until after they had sideswiped him. According to Perez, an officer approached him, identified himself, and requested his immigration documents.
He asked the officer why he was being stopped, while the agent insisted he exit his vehicle. Perez said he would but asked to pull his vehicle over for someone to pick up later.
The officer said ‘no,’ Perez said, but he pulled a U-turn and attempted to park before officers rammed his vehicle again and shot him after the car had stopped.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, said that his doctors weren’t able to remove the bullet lodged near his spine before he was moved into US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Texas on Monday
Immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, seen above, said Perez had been making a DoorDash delivery in Austin on Sunday when his car was ‘sideswiped’ twice by ICE agents in an unmarked car
Perez explained that the agency had pressed for him to be released quickly from hospital so he could be moved into a detention center
Perez was transported to hospital before being released into ICE custody later that day with the bullet still in his body, she added.
According to Lincoln-Goldfinch, Perez previously said he was being interrogated.
Perez explained that the agency had pressed for him to be released quickly from hospital so he could be moved into a detention center.
While in hospital he said he received no pain medication or treatment and was forced to sleep on the floor before he was given a ‘pill’ by a nurse on Monday.
It remains unclear why Perez was shot by the ICE officers and the Department of Homeland Security released little information on the incident.
Video footage seen by the Times saw an officer leaving his vehicle and approaching Perez’s Toyota, which began to roll forward. Three gunshots rang out before the vehicle slowly comes to a stop.
Carlos, 60, who witnessed the scene told the outlet that Perez said he had been shot because he did not hit the brakes of his car.
According to a release on Monday, the department said it was investigating the shooting of a Venezuelan man in the US illegally who ‘had a final order of removal.’
Kirk Waston, Austin’s mayor, called for local police to be involved in the investigation into the shooting and said it wouldn’t be appropriate for ICE to investigate on its own
Perez entered the US legally in 2024 under the CBP One program implemented under President Joe Biden that allowed migrants to set up appointments with US authorities in asylum cases
Perez’s attorneys said that the migrant is an asylum seeker with a valid work permit, according to Lincoln-Goldfinch
Perez entered the US legally in 2024 under the CBP One program implemented under President Joe Biden that allowed migrants to set up appointments with US authorities in asylum cases, Lincoln-Goldfinch said.
The program was ended on President Donald Trump’s first day in office.
Perez’s attorneys said that the migrant is an asylum seeker with a valid work permit, according to Lincoln-Goldfinch.
A deportation order was issued by a judge after Perez missed a hearing in immigration court due to the hearing notice being sent to a former address.
‘Not that being out of status would justify any of this at all,’ Lincoln-Goldfinch said on social media.
Kirk Waston, Austin’s mayor, called for local police to be involved in the investigation into the shooting and said it wouldn’t be appropriate for ICE to investigate on its own.
The incident comes amid Trump’s continued crackdown on immigration, as at least four people have been fatally shot by federal agents during ICE operations this year.
Over the summer, around 50,000 monthly arrests took place in July and August – marking a first for the agency.
The Daily Mail reached out to The White House, the Department of Homeland Security and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment.
