The Austin man shot by an ICE officer earlier this month underwent surgery Thursday morning and is now in recovery, 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 by an ICE officer in Austin on Sept. 20. After being taken to a local hospital, he was released a few 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 wife.
Federal prosecutors announced a criminal charge of assaulting and resisting a federal officer against Garces Perez on Tuesday and a federal judge ruled that he was a flight risk in a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, keeping him in federal custody. He appeared in a federal courtroom in a wheelchair with his left arm in a sling.
Once out of surgery, Garces Perez was later able to speak to his wife, according to Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, his lead attorney.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar said that Garces Perez had seen a specialist who recommended surgery to remove the bullet when he visited Garces Perez last Wednesday in a detention facility in Pearsall.
Garces Perez entered the U.S. through a port of entry in San Ysidro, California, in December 2023 and applied for asylum via the CBPOne app. Records show that he had received a removal order in August 2025, which Lincoln-Goldfinch said was sent to the wrong address. A motion to reconsider was denied in July 2026. The attorney added that his work permit expired in December 2025.
The ICE officers first encountered Garces Perez near the Village shopping center in North Austin while running random license plates through a database that showed his final order of removal. The officers made a traffic stop, identified themselves as immigration authorities and verified Garces Perez’s identity. One officer was wearing a body worn camera that captured the incident. The other officer, the one who eventually shot Garces Perez, was not wearing a camera.
After a brief conversation, Garces Perez fled the scene of the traffic stop. As he pulled away from the scene, his side-view mirror hit one of the officers in the torso, according to federal prosecutors, 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 attempted to hit him with his car.
New internal guidelines issued to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division order officers to not engage in high-speed chases and to make vehicle stops only if they have completed specific training, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
The memo was issued Wednesday, when federal prosecutors described the traffic stop and vehicle pursuit in Austin in federal court, according to the AP. The stop would not have complied with the new guidelines, which include requiring all officers at the scene to wear and activate body cameras. The officers also engaged in a vehicle pursuit through residential stops after the traffic stop, contrary to the new guidelines.
ICE agents were previously ordered to pause vehicle stops after fatal shootings in Maine and in Texas, but resumed after a call from President Donald Trump on social media.
