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Civil rights organizations are calling for an independent investigation after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot a Venezuelan man Sunday in Austin, Texas. Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vazquez from member station KUT has more.
GRETA DIAZ GONZALEZ VAZQUEZ, BYLINE: A day after Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was shot and detained by ICE, he said he hadn't received the proper medical care and still has a bullet lodged into his back. He talked on speakerphone during a press conference facilitated by his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, on Monday.
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WILBER RAFAEL GARCES PEREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
VAZQUEZ: He said he's still in pain. The bullet fractured his collar bone. And doctors didn't risk removing the bullet because it was too close to his spine. Lincoln-Goldfinch said that Garces Perez entered the country legally in 2024 and had a valid work permit. But a deportation order was issued after he missed a court hearing for his immigration case. Garces Perez was working delivering food and said he didn't realize he was being pulled over.
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GARCES PEREZ: (Speaking Spanish).
VAZQUEZ: He says the ICE agents only turned on their lights after they had sideswiped his car. In a post on X, Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security said Homeland Security Investigations will lead the inquiry into the shooting and the FBI will assist. HSI is the principal investigative arm of DHS. NPR has reached out to DHS with questions about the status of the investigation, including if body camera footage is available, but has not heard back. On Monday, the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, Roman Palomares, called for independent oversight of federal immigration enforcement.
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ROMAN PALOMARES: No agency can be the sole judge of its own conduct, not DHS, not ICE, and on this record, not the Department of Justice.
VAZQUEZ: The shooting rattled the neighborhood where it took place. The owner of an ice cream shop who saw when Garces Perez was being detained says he approached one of the ICE agents and told him that his actions were un-American.
CARLOS: (Speaking Spanish).
VAZQUEZ: The business owner, Carlos (ph), asked NPR not to use his full name for fear of retaliation against his business. After being released from the hospital, Garces Perez is now being held at the south Texas ICE processing center in Pearsall, about 130 miles southwest of Austin.
For NPR news, I'm Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vazquez in Austin.
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