Venezuelan associations, including the Multicultural Association of Activists Voice and Expression (Amavex) and Venezuelans Persecuted Politically in Exile (Veppex), based in Florida, expressed strong opposition to the incident that occurred in Austin on Sunday. In this event, Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, was shot in the torso by an agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The organizations issued a statement affirming that the enforcement of migration laws does not justify shooting, humiliating, isolating, or endangering someone's life, nor should it constitute persecution targeting the Venezuelan community or any group of immigrants.
According to the spokesperson for his immigration lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Garcés Pérez was making a delivery through the DoorDash platform when he was shot during a police traffic operation. The Venezuelan citizen was taken to the hospital in serious but stable condition and was discharged even with a projectile still lodged in his back, as reported by the same source.
He is currently in ICE custody at the South Texas Processing Center, located in Pearsall, approximately 209 kilometers from Austin. The lawyer's spokesperson, Fabiana Meléndez Ruiz, informed that Garcés Pérez managed to call his wife on Sunday to inform her about being shot, but the family has since been unable to contact him.
The exile groups considered the response of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) insufficient, which announced an investigation conducted by its Internal Security Investigation unit, with support from the U.S. Federal Police (FBI). The groups requested that Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly intervene in defense of the life, dignity, and fundamental rights of Venezuelans, in addition to asking for clarification on the location and detention conditions of Garcés Pérez.
The DHS stated that the Venezuelan was in irregular status in the United States and possessed a final deportation order, but did not detail the reason for the shooting. The defense refuted this claim, arguing that Garcés Pérez is an asylum seeker, entered the country through a temporary stay authorization program, and has no criminal record.
The Venezuelan organizations joined congressmen demanding an 'independent, transparent, and impartial' investigation, as well as the preservation and disclosure, as required by law, of body camera footage of the agents, operational communications, and other evidence.
This incident occurs amid an increase in migration checks during Donald Trump's second term, a period in which ICE recorded over 50,000 monthly detentions in July and August. The mentioned organizations indicated that at least four people have died this year due to shots fired by federal agents during immigration operations.