Venezuelan Shot by ICE in Texas Has Bullet Removed
MIGRATION · VENEZUELA
Key Facts
- —The country Venezuela and the United States. Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, is a Venezuelan asylum seeker who worked as a food delivery driver in Austin, Texas.
- —What happened Surgeons removed a bullet from his back on Thursday 1 October 2026, 11 days after an ICE officer shot him on 20 September, his lawyers and Rep. Greg Casar said.
- —Who is involved His lawyers and the Texas Civil Rights Project; Texas Democrats Greg Casar and Joaquin Castro; ICE, which held him; and the US Marshals Service, which now holds him.
- —What it means for you An ICE memo of 30 September bars high-speed chases and requires body cameras at vehicle stops, the Associated Press reported. The rules cover the ICE division that makes arrests and deportations.
- —Still open The officer who fired is unnamed, camera footage shown in court on 30 September is unreleased, and no findings from the federal inquiry have been published.
A Venezuelan delivery driver wounded in an ICE shooting in Austin, Texas, has had the bullet removed from his back. Surgeons operated on Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, on Thursday 1 October, 11 days after he was shot.
Democratic congressman Greg Casar confirmed the operation, the Venezuelan daily El Nacional and the Salvadoran news site Diario1 reported on 2 October. The Texas Tribune said he was recovering and had spoken to his wife.
Eleven days with a bullet in his back
An officer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US deportation agency, shot Garcés Pérez on 20 September. The shooting followed a traffic stop and a short car chase in North Austin.
He was discharged from hospital about four hours later, the Texas Tribune reported on 22 September. He was then taken to an ICE detention centre in Pearsall, 135 miles (about 217 km) south, with the bullet still lodged.
Casar said a specialist had recommended surgery when the congressman visited him there on 23 September. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said on 22 September that he had round-the-clock care and pain medication.
DHS added that ICE does not decide on medical procedures. Doctors quoted by the Tribune called discharge with a lodged bullet common; one said removal often does more harm than good.
What each side says after the ICE shooting
Casar wrote on X that the delay was further proof of ICE’s cruelty, Diario1 reported. He said sustained pressure had secured the care Garcés Pérez needed.
His lawyers said in a statement that ICE refused his wife access to the operating room, Houston Public Media reported. Rep. Joaquin Castro, another Texas Democrat, also confirmed the surgery, according to the Texas Tribune.
Prosecutors say Garcés Pérez drove off from the stop and his side mirror hit an officer in the torso. The officer who fired says the driver then tried to hit him with his car.
He entered the US in December 2023 through the CBP One appointment app and sought asylum. A removal order followed in 2025; his lawyer says the notice went to the wrong address.
Criminal charge and missing camera footage
Federal prosecutors charged him on 29 September with assaulting and resisting a federal officer, which carries up to 20 years in prison. As reported on 1 October, a judge ordered him held without bail as a flight risk.
He appeared at that hearing on 30 September in a wheelchair, with his arm in a sling, the Texas Tribune reported. He is now held by the US Marshals Service, his lawyer said.
A DHS special agent testified that the officer who fired wore no body camera, Houston Public Media reported. Footage from the second officer’s camera was shown in court but has not been released.
Testimony showed that officer switched his camera off during the pursuit, the AP reported. That leaves no full record of the ICE shooting, his lawyers argue.
ICE tightens its rules on vehicle stops
On 30 September ICE issued internal guidelines barring high-speed chases, in a memo obtained by the Associated Press. Vehicle stops are now limited to officers with specific training, the Texas Tribune reported.
All officers at a stop must also wear and switch on body cameras. The AP reported that the Austin stop would not have complied with the new rules. An ICE spokesperson told CNN the memo makes no changes to how the agency conducts vehicle stops.
Prosecutions for assaulting federal agents are also rising. DHS referred a record 274 such cases in fiscal 2025, Diario1 reported, citing the watchdog Project On Government Oversight.
What Is Not Yet Known
The officer who fired has not been named, and no findings from the federal ICE shooting inquiry are public. The camera footage shown in court remains unreleased.
His medical outlook after the operation has not been disclosed. No date for the next step in the criminal case, or a decision on his removal order, has been reported.
Sources: El Nacional (2 Oct 2026); Diario1 (2 Oct 2026); The Texas Tribune (1 Oct 2026) and 22 Sept 2026; Houston Public Media / KUT (2 Oct 2026); Associated Press (2 Oct 2026).
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