Man shot by ICE officer is detained in Texas with a bullet still in his back, attorney’s office says

A Venezuelan man shot by a federal immigration officer in Texas is being held at a detention center after being released from a hospital with a bullet still lodged in his back. AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Venezuelan man shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was in custody Monday at an ICE detention center in Texas after he was released from a hospital with a bullet still lodged in his back, according to a spokesperson for the man’s attorney.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 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 spokesperson for immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch. Ruiz said that Perez called his wife around 12:30 p.m. Sunday to tell her that he had been shot.

She said Perez’s wife hasn’t spoken with him since then. Perez was being detained at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) southwest of Austin, Ruiz told The Associated Press. She said Lincoln-Goldfinch spoke by phone with Perez, who told her that he was being interrogated while a bullet remained in his back.

Perez also said he had no pain medication, according to Ruiz. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, has released little information and has not said what prompted the shooting. In a statement early Monday, the department said it was investigating the shooting of a Venezuelan man in the U.S.

illegally who “had a final order of removal.” Perez is an asylum seeker and entered the United States through a parole program, and he has no criminal history, Ruiz said. “Regardless of his status, the use of force was unwarranted,” Ruiz said. “As far as we understand, he was here legally.” The shooting occurred amid a surge in ICE enforcement across the U.S.

during President Donald Trump’s second term. During the summer, it reported more than 50,000 monthly arrests in July and August — a first for the agency. Immigration officers have come under intense scrutiny amid a series of shootings during the crackdown.