The Austin man shot and killed by an ICE officer earlier this month underwent surgery Thursday morning and is now recovering, according to U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and a statement from the man’s legal team.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan national working as a food delivery driver, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Austin on September 20. After being transported to a local hospital, he was released hours later and taken into ICE custody with the bullet remaining in his back for 11 days. Thursday’s surgery removed the bullet, according to his legal team and his wife.
Federal prosecutors announced a criminal charge of assaulting and resisting a federal officer against Garces Perez on Tuesday and a federal judge ruled he was a flight risk during a preliminary hearing Wednesday, keeping him in federal custody. He appeared in federal court in a wheelchair, his left arm in a sling.
Once out of surgery, Garces Perez was then able to talk to his wife, according to Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, his lead attorney.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar said Garces Perez saw a specialist who recommended surgery to remove the bullet during his visit last Wednesday to a detention center in Pearsall.
Since the Austin shooting, Democrats and advocacy groups have criticized the treatment of Garces Perez, adding to the national debate over conditions in immigration detention centers. Casar criticized the death of a detainee at a Louisiana ICE facility the same day he visited Garces Perez last week, while Castro denounced the treatment of detainees at an event in San Antonio on Thursday.
“When ICE can shoot a man in the back and then barely give him any medical treatment and leave him to suffer, there’s a reason for that because we’ve gotten to a point where we view people as less than human beings,” Castro said.
Garces Perez entered the United States through a port of entry in San Ysidro, California, in December 2023 and requested asylum through the CBPOne app. Records show he received an eviction order in August 2025, which Lincoln-Goldfinch said was sent to the wrong address. A request for reconsideration was denied in July 2026. The lawyer added that his work permit expired in December 2025.
ICE agents first encountered Garces Perez near the Village Mall in North Austin while they were running random license plates in a database showing his final removal order. The officers conducted a traffic stop, identified themselves as immigration authorities and verified the identity of Garces Perez. A police officer was wearing a dash camera which filmed the incident. The other officer, the one who ultimately shot Garces Perez, was not carrying a camera.
After a brief conversation, Garces Perez fled the scene of the traffic stop. As he drove away from the scene, his rearview mirror hit one of the officers in the torso, federal prosecutors say, leading to his criminal charges.
After a brief vehicle pursuit, the ICE officer not wearing a body camera shot Garces Perez in the back. The ICE officer alleged that Garces Perez tried to hit him with his car.
New internal guidelines issued to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division instruct agents not to engage in high-speed pursuits and to conduct vehicle stops only if they have completed specific training, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The memo was released Wednesday, when federal prosecutors described the traffic stop and vehicle pursuit in Austin in federal court, according to the AP. The stop allegedly did not comply with new guidelines, which include requiring all officers on scene to wear and activate body cameras. Officers also engaged in vehicle pursuits during residential stops after the traffic stop, contrary to the new guidelines.
ICE agents had already been ordered to suspend vehicle checks after deadly shootings in Maine and Texas, but they resumed after a call from President Donald Trump on social media.
Colleen DeGuzman contributed to this story.
