Sept. 23 (UPI) — A federal judge has ordered that the Venezuelan man who was shot Sunday by a U.S. Immigration and Customs agent in Austin, Texas, must appear at a court hearing Sept. 30.
U.S. District Court Judge Orlando Garcia said in his order that Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, must be at the hearing in person, which temporarily blocks his deportation before then. ICE had said he was in federal custody “pending removal.”
An ICE agent shot Garces Perez on Sunday while he was making DoorDash deliveries. His attorney said that he is back at a federal detention center in Pearsall, Texas, after being treated again at a hospital Monday night. ICE transferred him to the center from a hospital after the shooting with a bullet still in his back, she said.
The temporary block on deportation is “an important step,” immigration lawyer Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said, “but our work is not over. Wilber still needs appropriate medical care, and we will continue fighting to protect his rights.”
Lincoln-Goldfinch said that the gunshot fractured Garces Perez’s clavicle and that he is still experiencing “significant swelling and pain” without adequate medical care. She also said that ICE had revoked her client’s communications privileges after he spoke to reporters by phone for a press conference Monday.
The ICE agent who shot Garces Perez was not wearing a body camera at the time of the shooting. The Austin Police Department has released footage from the first police officer who arrived at the scene, who was not involved in the incident. The footage did not show what led up to the shooting.
The Department of Homeland Security pushed back Tuesday about what it called “false narratives” and blamed news media for “spreading lies” about the shooting and aftermath. It said ICE “will not be slowing down nor leaving Austin.”
“Contrary to their claims, this person is an illegal alien who has no legal status to be here and has been given some of the best medical care he’s ever received in his life,” said Markwayne Mullin, Homeland Security secretary.
Mullin said Garces Perez’s work permit had expired and that he was the subject of a “targeted vehicle stop.”
“No amount of smears and false narratives will slow down ICE from doing its job by removing dangerous illegal aliens from our communities and making America safe again,” Mullin said.
Source: U.S. News
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