Austin, Texas: A Venezuelan man who was shot by a federal immigration agent on September 20, is being treated at a hospital for paralysis on his left side, according to his lawyer. Video released by Austin Police shows the man, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, with a wound in his back.
Garces “was taken back to another hospital to receive treatment regarding paralysis in his left side”, attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said on her social media accounts late on Monday.
Lincoln-Goldfinch added that she would visit him first thing on Tuesday morning.
During a news conference on Monday, Lincoln-Goldfinch introduced a man who called in as Perez, who said he had been transferred to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility about 130 miles southwest of Austin on Sunday after a few hours in the hospital following the shooting.
On the Monday call, Perez, 28, said that he was still bleeding and was not receiving adequate medical care.
“I'm not doing well because of the gunshot I received”, he said in Spanish. He added that he had to sleep on the floor at the detention centre but did not explain.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, denied in a Tuesday statement that Perez was forced to sleep on the floor and also said that he had been receiving pain medications and other medical treatment while at the detention centre.
Perez was back in a federal detention centre on Tuesday after being treated and released from hospital for a second time since the shooting, according to Lincoln-Goldfinch.
Perez said he had been out working as a DoorDash food delivery driver on Sunday when his car was sideswiped by the agents, who he said did not identify themselves or turn on any sort of lights or siren.
Perez said that an agent shot him while he was still in his car and that there had been no foot chase. Austin police said on Sunday that he had run from agents.
Austin police on Tuesday released body camera footage showing Perez hunched over in the front seat of his car, grabbing his shoulder and rocking back and forth after the shooting. An officer later cut off his shirt, revealing a wound in his upper back.
The footage does not show what led up to the shooting. It begins with an officer approaching Perez's car after the shooting and interacting with federal officers at the scene. The videos are partially muted, and Perez can be heard speaking Spanish to officers. State troopers were also at the scene.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said an off-duty detective reported the incident after witnessing and recording black SUVs surrounding a dark blue Toyota Corolla. She said a video recorded 10 to 15 minutes later captured three gunshots and sirens.
Davis said there was a pursuit through some side neighbourhoods that ended on a side street about 200 yards from where Perez was eventually shot.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to questions about whether the federal officer who shot Perez was wearing a body-worn camera. Davis said she did not know whether federal officers at the scene were wearing body cameras.
US District Judge Orlando Garcia has ordered Perez to appear in person at a hearing in San Antonio on September 30, after his attorney filed a lawsuit seeking to stop his removal from the US. In the order, Garcia wrote that “petitioner must be present at the hearing”.
In court filings, Perez's lawyers alleged that he was forced to sleep on a cement floor at an ICE temporary processing centre before being transferred to a detention centre in Pearsall. They also alleged that he was questioned without an attorney present.
DHS said on Tuesday that Perez was receiving medical care “around the clock, including pain medication” and had slept on a bed.
Democratic US Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas said he planned to visit Perez on Wednesday to “check on his condition and demand his release”. The shooting has also prompted protests in Austin, including a gathering outside the Texas Capitol on Monday night.
Perez entered the US in 2024 using CBP One, a programme launched under President Joe Biden that allowed migrants to make appointments with US authorities to be considered for asylum, according to Lincoln-Goldfinch. President Donald Trump ended the programme on his first day in office.
Lincoln-Goldfinch said Perez was an asylum seeker with a valid work permit and that a judge issued a deportation order after he missed an immigration court hearing because the notice was sent to a former address.
(With inputs from AP via PTI and Reuters)
