New surveillance video captures the chaotic pursuit of a Venezuelan migrant by federal law enforcement vehicles in Austin over the weekend, shortly before an immigration officer shot him.
The footage shows at least two vehicles racing after a speeding car driven by 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, with their sirens activated. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the video’s authenticity to Fox News.
Garces Perez was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer before being arrested and taken into detention.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, a Venezuelan migrant, was shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Austin, Texas, over the weekend. (Wilber Garces/Facebook)
Garces Perez’s attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said officers in an unmarked vehicle tried to force her client off the road while he was working as a DoorDash driver. She said he was chased, sideswiped, shot in the back of the neck and removed from his car.
Local law enforcement evidence disputes parts of that account. Surveillance footage does not appear to show damage to Garces Perez’s vehicle. Body-camera video from Austin police officers who arrived at the scene shows them helping him out of the car, rather than pulling him out, contradicting Lincoln-Goldfinch’s description.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was shot while U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were attempting to take him into custody in Austin, Texas, over the weekend. Austin police body-camera footage released Tuesday shows Garces Perez inside his vehicle after the shooting, shortly before his arrest. (Austin Police Department)
In a statement posted to Facebook Wednesday, Lincoln-Goldfinch said her client was being held in isolation in the infirmary of an ICE detention center. She said he remained “gravely ill” and that a bullet was still lodged in his body.
“Our immediate demands are clear: restore Wilber’s communication privileges and take him back to the hospital. He needs access to appropriate medical care,” she wrote.
The shooting and subsequent detention have drawn strong criticism from Democratic lawmakers. Critics have described ICE as a “rogue” organization and accused it of “terrorizing our cities and threatening the safety of our residents.”
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, visited the ICE detention center Wednesday to meet with Garces Perez. In a video shared on X, Casar criticized the agency’s response to the incident.
People protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on Sept. 20, 2026, in Austin, Texas. A federal ICE officer shot and wounded a person earlier that day in North Austin. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“ICE has been trying to blame all of this on him without releasing any of the video footage, any of the evidence,” Casar said.
