ICE officer shoots asylum-seeker in Austin

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez during a traffic stop in Austin on Sunday, potentially leaving him paralyzed.

Officer was new recruit without body camera

The ICE officer who fired the shots was reportedly a new recruit and was not wearing a body camera at the time of the incident, according to Department of Homeland Security officials.

Victim's account contradicts official story

Pérez's attorney says agents in unmarked vehicles sideswiped his car before firing, and he didn't know he was dealing with ICE until he was shot. There was no foot chase, she said.

“There was not a foot chase as they said that there was.”

Pérez was legally in the country

Pérez entered the U.S. legally as an asylum-seeker in 2024 and had a valid work permit. He was shot after officers ran his license plate and found an outstanding deportation order.

Bullet lodged, paralysis on left side

A bullet remains lodged in Pérez's upper torso. He was initially sent to a detention center 130 miles away before being returned to medical care for paralysis on his left side.

“I am not doing well due to the gunshot wound, and I have not received the medical attention that I require.”

Part of broader pattern of ICE shootings

The shooting follows an ICE officer killing Mexican construction contractor Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston in July. ICE arrests have surged to 50,000 a month this summer.