AUSTIN, Texas — The Venezuelan man shot by ICE in Austin during a traffic stop spoke from immigration detention Monday and said he was in a lot of pain and still had a bullet lodged in his back.Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, was shot early Sunday afternoon by an ICE officer while making deliveries as a DoorDash driver.He is being held in immigration custody at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas.Garcés Pérez said by phone during a news conference Monday that he was shot near the clavicle and that he has not received the medical attention he needs.
Lawmakers, advocates and Garcés Pérez’s attorney demanded his release, alleging he was taken from a hospital into custody within four hours with a bullet still lodged in his back.Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez was shot by an ICE officer in Austin while delivering food Sunday.Courtesy Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch“Wilber is a victim of the shooting and the most important witness to it.You do not deport the key witness to your own officer’s use of force,” Juan Proaño, the CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, said during a news conference Monday afternoon that was also attended by Garcés Pérez’s wife.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, the federal agency to which ICE belongs, said in a statement late Sunday that Garcés Pérez was in stable condition and was in federal custody pending removal from the U.S.A senior administration official told NBC News on Monday that Garcés Pérez did not have a criminal history beyond being in the country illegally.According to Garcés Pérez’s attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, he entered the country legally and was seeking asylum.She said Garcés Pérez told her he had let the immigration court know when he had a change of address, but a notice to appear in court was sent to an old address.
Because of this mistake, Garcés Pérez missed his court hearing and was ordered deported in absentia, according to hi...