A Venezuelan asylum seeker who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during a food delivery in Austin, Texas, has been charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, appeared in federal court in Austin on Tuesday. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the federal charge.
The case follows a September 20 encounter near a shopping centre, where Garces Perez was making a DoorDash delivery. A federal complaint filed on Monday alleges that ICE officers identified his vehicle and discovered that he was subject to a final order of removal from the United States.
According to the complaint, Garces Perez handed over his driving licence through a partly open window but refused to leave the car, asking officers to wait for his wife to arrive and collect it. Court documents describe the conversation at that stage as “pleasant and not aggressive”.
The complaint alleges that about a minute later he “abruptly” closed the window and drove away, striking one of the officers in the torso with the vehicle’s side-view mirror.
The officer is said to have pursued Garces Perez in a separate vehicle and caught up with him. The complaint alleges that Garces Perez then tried to drive into the officer, who opened fire.
No publicly available footage shows the events leading up to the shooting or the shooting itself. Videos circulating online show its aftermath, with Garces Perez injured inside his car.
The allegations are based partly on unreleased body-camera footage from one of the two ICE officers who stopped him. The second officer was not wearing a body camera, according to an affidavit, and says he was struck by the mirror before later shooting Garces Perez.
Garces Perez has disputed that account. He told federal investigators that, after a short chase, a law enforcement sports utility vehicle hit his car and caused it to spin around before the officer opened fire, shooting him in the back.
Garces Perez remains in detention
Garces Perez has been held at a detention facility in south Texas since the incident. His lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said the bullet remained lodged in his body and that he had suffered a fractured clavicle.
Ms Lincoln-Goldfinch said supporters were concerned that he could develop sepsis or suffer permanent damage without prompt surgery. The Department of Homeland Security has said he is receiving adequate medical care.
His legal team is also seeking to prevent his removal from the US. Garces Perez entered the country in 2024 through CBP One, an online scheme that allowed asylum seekers to arrange appointments with immigration authorities at the US-Mexico border.
His lawyer has said he was pursuing asylum legally and held a valid work permit. She has also argued that he was ordered to be deported after missing an immigration court hearing because the notice was sent to an old address.
Garces Perez is due to appear before a federal immigration judge on Wednesday for a separate hearing on whether he can remain in the United States.
The case comes as immigration enforcement has intensified during Donald Trump’s second term, with ICE reporting more than 50,000 arrests in both July and August.
