US court temporarily blocks deportation of DoorDash driver wounded by ICE agents — BBC News
A US judge has temporarily blocked the deportation of 28-year-old Venezuelan citizen Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, who was wounded by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Austin, Texas. The man is being held in a detention center, BBC News reports.
Hearing scheduled for September 30
Garces Perez’s attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, filed a federal lawsuit seeking to temporarily bar his removal from the United States. Judge Orlando Garcia ruled that the Venezuelan must appear in person at a hearing on September 30. According to the attorney, he cannot be deported before that date.
Lincoln-Goldfinch said that her client still needs proper medical care. According to her, a bullet remains in his back, the shooting caused a fractured collarbone, and the man is wearing a support sling because of significant pain and swelling. The causes and extent of the impairment to his arm mobility have not yet been established.
Condition of the wounded man and investigation
According to the attorney, after Garces Perez was unable to move his arm at the detention center, he was taken to a hospital on Monday evening. After treatment, the man was returned to the center. Lincoln-Goldfinch said that during the transfer, he was placed in handcuffs, ankle shackles and a waist chain, and was treated roughly despite his injuries.
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The attorney also alleges that the center’s staff revoked her client’s ability to communicate and transferred him from the medical unit to an isolation room with a flat, non-adjustable bed. A representative of the US Attorney’s Office in Texas declined to comment on the case.
Circumstances of the shooting
The US Department of Homeland Security said it is investigating the shooting in Austin involving a migrant without legal status, but did not confirm that he was wounded specifically in the back. According to the attorney’s account, Garces Perez was making a DoorDash delivery when an unmarked black vehicle struck his car. She claims that he did not know the vehicle belonged to ICE, made a U-turn, after which his car was hit again and agents got out of the vehicle and opened fire.
Local officials and state authorities have called for an independent investigation into the incident. Texas Democratic state legislator Joaquin Castro also demanded the release of the wounded Venezuelan from custody.
