Detention staff revoked detainee’s communication, moved him to isolation, lawyer says
A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday temporarily blocked the deportation of a 28-year-old Venezuelan man who was shot by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during a traffic stop in Austin on Sunday, according to his attorney. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who was working as a DoorDash delivery driver when he was shot, remains in immigration detention with a bullet lodged in his back, a fractured clavicle, and reported loss of arm movement, his lawyer said.
US District Judge Orlando Garcia, a Clinton appointee, issued a temporary restraining order blocking Garces Perez’s removal from the country and scheduled an in-person hearing for September 30, according to the lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch. Because the judge ordered Garces Perez to appear in person on that date, he cannot be deported before then, she said.
“For now, we have secured a temporary block on his deportation while his case moves forward,” Lincoln-Goldfinch wrote on social media. “This is an important step, but our work is not over. Wilber still needs appropriate medical care, and we will continue fighting to protect his rights.”
Garces Perez was making a DoorDash delivery on Sunday afternoon when an unmarked black truck sideswiped his car, according to Lincoln-Goldfinch. He did not know the truck was an ICE vehicle and made a U-turn, she said. His car was struck a second time before agents exited the vehicle and shot him.
The gunshot fractured his clavicle, and Garces Perez is wearing a sling while experiencing “significant swelling and pain,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said. The cause or extent of the loss of movement he experienced has not yet been determined, she said.
Lincoln-Goldfinch previously told the BBC that after Garces Perez was unable to move his arm in the detention facility, he was taken back to a hospital on Monday evening, treated, and returned to the detention center. He reported being handcuffed, shackled at the ankles, placed in a waist chain, and handled roughly during the transfer despite his injury, she said.
Detention personnel have revoked Garces Perez’s communication privileges and moved him from an infirmary into an isolated room with a flat, non-adjustable bed, according to the lawyer. The BBC has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
DHS has said it is investigating the shooting of an “illegal migrant” in Austin but has not confirmed that Garces Perez was shot in the back. The shooting occurred months after an ICE officer fatally shot a man in Houston.
Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro on Tuesday demanded Garces Perez’s release from detention. Local and state officials have called for an independent investigation into the Sunday shooting.
Hours after the shooting, dozens of protesters — some waving Mexican and Guatemalan flags — gathered at the scene carrying signs demanding that ICE leave the city.