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A Venezuelan man shot by an immigration agent remained in custody Monday at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Texas, after being discharged from a hospital with a bullet still lodged in his back, according to a spokeswoman for the man's lawyer.
Wilber Rafael Garces Pérez, 28, was making a DoorDash delivery in the Texas capital of Austin on Sunday before he was shot during a traffic stop, said Fabiana Meléndez Ruiz, a spokeswoman for immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.
Ruiz noted that Pérez called his wife around 12:30 p.m. Sunday to tell her he had been shot. She added that his wife has not spoken to him since.
Pérez is being held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) southwest of Austin, Ruiz told The Associated Press. She indicated that Lincoln-Goldfinch spoke to Pérez by phone, and he told her he was being interrogated while a bullet remained in his back. Pérez also said he had no pain medication, according to Ruiz.
Madre e hija sobreviven a accidente, pero ICE las detiene en el hospital: “¿Por qué las tratan así?”
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has released little information and has not stated what prompted the shooting. In a statement issued early Monday, the department claimed it was investigating the shooting of a Venezuelan who was in the United States illegally and who “had a final order of removal.”
Pérez is an asylum seeker who entered the United States through a parole program and has no criminal record, Ruiz said.
“Regardless of his status, the use of force was unjustified,” Ruiz stated. “As far as we understand, he was here legally.”
The shooting occurred amid a surge in immigration enforcement by ICE across the United States during President Donald Trump’s second term. During the summer, the agency reported more than 50,000 arrests per month in July and August, a record high for the agency.
Immigration agents have come under intense scrutiny amid a series of shootings during the crackdown. At least four people have been killed by federal agents during immigration enforcement operations this year.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis told reporters on Sunday that the shooting occurred following a traffic stop. She noted that local police were not involved. Local officials said the man was shot in the torso and had been hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
Pérez’s wife and lawyer were unable to obtain information about his condition at the hospital on Sunday until hospital attorneys told them around 6 p.m. that he had been discharged 90 minutes earlier, Ruiz indicated.
She added that ICE had not confirmed any information to Lincoln-Goldfinch, who turned to legal databases and other means to find out where he was being detained.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, said on Sunday he wants local police to have a role in the investigation of the shooting. Watson stated it would not be appropriate for ICE to investigate on its own.
At the scene of the shooting, a dark blue Toyota Corolla was parked under an overpass, with damage to the passenger-side door and what appeared to be bullet holes, before it was towed Sunday night.
About 100 people protested against ICE after the shooting.
[Publicidad]