On a September evening in Austin, a Venezuelan man making a food delivery became the center of a contested encounter with federal immigration officers — one that ended with a bullet in his back and a criminal charge carrying up to twenty years. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who entered the United States legally and was pursuing asylum, now sits detained with unresolved injuries while two irreconcilable accounts of what happened compete for legal authority. His case distills the human cost of an era in which enforcement has accelerated faster than the systems meant to ensure accountability.
Venezuelan asylum seeker charged after ICE shooting; accounts of incident sharply differ
Garces Perez was shot in the back and remains detained with a bullet lodged in his body and a fractured clavicle, facing potential sepsis without surgery.
The bullet remains lodged in his body. His lawyer warned of sepsis risk.
Mark
So we have two completely different accounts of what happened that day. How do we know which one is true?
Mimi
Right now, we don't—not publicly. The government has body-camera footage from one officer, but it hasn't been released. The other officer wasn't wearing a camera at all. So the court will have to weigh the officer's account against Garces Perez's, but the public can't see the evidence yet.
Luke
That's a critical gap. We're talking about a shooting that left a man with a bullet in his back, and the only potential video evidence is sealed. We can report what each side claims, but we can't independently verify the sequence of events.
Mark
What about the initial part—when the officer first approached? That seems less disputed.
Mimi
The complaint itself says that exchange was "pleasant and not aggressive." Both sides seem to agree on that. The disagreement starts when Garces Perez either drove away and hit the officer with his mirror, or when he drove away and was then hit by the officer's vehicle.
Luke
And that distinction matters enormously. If he struck the officer first, that supports the assault charge. If the officer's vehicle hit him first, it changes the entire context of what happened next.
Mark
He's been in detention since the shooting with a bullet still in his body. Why hasn't he had surgery?
Mimi
His lawyer says he needs it urgently to prevent sepsis or permanent injury. But DHS says he's receiving adequate care. It's another dispute—and another thing we can't independently verify from outside the system.
Luke
The medical claim is verifiable, though. A doctor could examine him and confirm whether surgery is medically necessary. That's not a matter of interpretation the way the shooting sequence is.
Mark
What's his actual immigration status? Is he legally here or not?
Mimi
He entered legally through CBP One in 2024 and had a valid work permit. But he missed an immigration court hearing—his lawyer says the notice went to an old address—and that led to the deportation order. So technically he's subject to removal, but his lawyer is arguing he should be allowed to stay.
Luke
So the criminal case and the immigration case are running in parallel, and they're connected. If he's convicted of assault, that almost certainly ends any asylum claim. If he's deported, the criminal case becomes moot in a practical sense, though the charges would still stand.
Mark
What does this case tell us about what's happening with immigration enforcement right now?
Mimi
ICE made over 50,000 arrests in July and August alone. This is the enforcement environment we're in. And cases like this one—where the facts are contested and the evidence is sealed—they're happening within that larger surge.
Luke
But we have to be careful not to use this case to make a broader argument about enforcement policy when the facts of this specific incident are still unclear. What we can say is that this case exists within a context of intensified enforcement, and that context matters for understanding why it's happening now.
The Pulse
- A man shot in the back during a DoorDash delivery now faces federal assault charges — the government and the injured man offer accounts that cannot both be true.
- With a bullet still lodged in his body and a fractured clavicle, Garces Perez risks sepsis while authorities insist he is receiving adequate care.
- The only camera footage belongs to the government and has not been released publicly, leaving the court to adjudicate a shooting with no independent visual record.
- ICE arrests have surpassed 50,000 per month, and the legal pathway Garces Perez used to enter the country no longer exists — the program was canceled on the president's first day back in office.
- A missed court notice sent to an old address produced the deportation order that set the entire encounter in motion, raising questions about procedural fairness within the asylum system.
On a September evening in Austin, a Venezuelan man making a food delivery became the center of a contested encounter with federal immigration officers — one that ended with a bullet in his back and a criminal charge carrying up to twenty years. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who entered the United States legally and was pursuing asylum, now sits detained with unresolved injuries while two irreconcilable accounts of what happened compete for legal authority. His case distills the human cost of an era in which enforcement has accelerated faster than the systems meant to ensure accountability.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was making a DoorDash delivery in Austin on September 20 when immigration officers ran his plates and found a final deportation order attached to his name. What followed has since split into two competing stories — one in which he struck a federal officer and threatened another with his car, and one in which he was rammed by a law enforcement vehicle and then shot in the back without justification.
The 28-year-old Venezuelan appeared in federal court facing charges of assaulting and impeding a federal officer, a conviction for which could mean two decades in prison. Court documents describe the initial exchange as calm — he handed over his license and asked officers to wait for his wife. Then, the government says, he drove off and hit an officer with his mirror. Garces Perez says an ICE vehicle struck his car first, spinning it, before the officer opened fire. The bullet remains in his body. His attorney has warned that without surgery he faces sepsis or permanent injury.
No independent video of the encounter exists. The government holds body-camera footage from one officer — the same officer who says he was struck and who fired the shots. The second officer present wore no camera at all.
Garces Perez had entered the United States legally in 2024 through the CBP One appointment system and held a valid work permit while pursuing asylum. His lawyer says a court notice sent to an outdated address caused him to miss a hearing, which generated the deportation order. That administrative gap now anchors both his criminal exposure and his removal proceedings.
The case unfolds against a backdrop of sharply escalating enforcement — ICE reported more than 50,000 arrests in each of the past two months, and the program through which Garces Perez entered the country was canceled on the president's first day back in office. For him, the question of what truly happened on that Austin street will determine not only criminal liability but whether he has any future in the country where he came seeking safety.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was making a DoorDash delivery in Austin on September 20 when immigration officers noticed his car had its emergency lights flashing. A database check revealed the vehicle was registered to him—and that he carried a final deportation order. What happened next, depending on who tells it, either justified a shooting or constituted an unprovoked attack on a man doing gig work.
The 28-year-old Venezuelan appeared in federal court in Austin on Tuesday facing charges of assaulting, resisting, and impeding a federal officer. If convicted, he could spend up to 20 years in prison. The charge rests on the government's account of a September 20 encounter that has become a flashpoint in the broader surge of immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.
According to the federal complaint, when ICE officers approached Garces Perez's car, he handed his driver's license through a partially opened window and asked them to wait for his wife to arrive and retrieve the vehicle. Court documents describe this initial exchange as "pleasant and not aggressive." Then, about a minute later, the complaint says he "abruptly" closed his window, drove away, and struck one of the officers in the torso with his driver's side mirror. The officer pursued him in his own vehicle. When they met again, the officer claims Garces Perez tried to drive into him, prompting him to open fire. That officer shot Garces Perez in the back.
Garces Perez tells a different story. He told federal investigators that after a brief chase, a law enforcement SUV struck his car, causing it to spin. Only then, he said, did the officer open fire. The bullet remains lodged in his body. His lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, reported that he also suffered a fractured clavicle and warned that without surgery he risked sepsis or permanent damage. The Department of Homeland Security countered that he is receiving adequate medical care.
No public video exists of the initial encounter or the shooting itself. The government's case relies on unreleased body-camera footage from one of the two ICE officers involved. The second officer was not wearing a camera. That officer is the one who says he was struck by the mirror and fired the shots. The absence of independent video documentation means the court will ultimately decide which account to believe based on the evidence presented—evidence that remains largely shielded from public view.
Garces Perez entered the United States in 2024 through CBP One, an online appointment system that the Biden administration had expanded to allow asylum seekers to present themselves at the border legally. He obtained a valid work permit and was legally pursuing asylum. His lawyer says he missed an immigration court hearing because the notice was sent to an old address, which led to the deportation order. Now, facing both criminal charges and removal proceedings, Garces Perez sits in a detention facility in south Texas. He is scheduled to appear before a federal immigration judge on Wednesday for a hearing on whether he can remain in the country.
The case arrives as ICE enforcement has intensified sharply. The agency reported more than 50,000 arrests in both July and August of this year. Trump ended the CBP One program on his first day back in office, calling it a driver of immigration crisis, and has since replaced it with CBP Home, a self-deportation portal. For Garces Perez, the question of what actually happened on that Austin street—and whether the government's version can be proven beyond the officer's word—will determine not only his criminal liability but his immigration status and his future in the country where he came seeking protection.
Notable Quotes
The initial exchange between Garces Perez and officers was described in court documents as 'pleasant and not aggressive'— Federal complaint
Garces Perez told investigators that after a brief chase, a law enforcement SUV struck his car, causing it to spin, before the officer opened fire— Garces Perez's account to federal investigators
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