On a September morning in Austin, Texas, a traffic stop became a flashpoint in the long-running tension between immigration enforcement and individual rights. Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan who entered the United States legally through an asylum program, was shot in the back by an ICE officer and now faces up to twenty years in federal prison — even as a bullet remains lodged in his spine and a judge has temporarily halted his deportation. The case turns on competing accounts of the same violent minutes, and in that gap between official record and personal testimony, larg
Venezuelan man charged with assault after being shot by ICE agent in Texas
Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez was shot in the back by an ICE officer, with a bullet remaining lodged in his upper back, placing him in grave danger according to his lawyers.
A bullet lodged in his upper back, placing him in grave danger
Mark
So the basic fact is that ICE shot this man during a traffic stop. But the charges against him suggest the government's version of events is quite different from his.
Mimi
Right. The government says he was the aggressor—that he refused to exit the car, drove away, struck an officer with his mirror, led them on a chase, and then attempted to hit the officer again, prompting the shot. Garces-Perez says ICE caused the initial collision, and that he was shot after being forced to stop.
Luke
Those are fundamentally incompatible stories. Do we know which one the evidence supports?
Mimi
The court filings contain both accounts, but they don't resolve the contradiction. There's no mention of dashcam footage, witness statements, or forensic analysis that would settle it.
Mark
What about the bullet itself? His lawyers say it's still in his back.
Mimi
Yes. They're arguing that's evidence of grave danger. The government responded by saying he's received excellent medical care, which doesn't really address whether the bullet should come out.
Luke
So we have a man with a bullet in his spine, facing twenty years in prison, and the core question of whether he was lawfully shot remains unanswered in the public record.
Mimi
That's accurate. A judge did block his deportation temporarily, which suggests some judicial skepticism about the government's position, but that's not the same as ruling on the shooting itself.
Mark
He entered legally through an asylum program that no longer exists.
Mimi
Correct. He used CBP One in 2024, when it was still available. Trump cancelled it after taking office. So he came through an official channel, but now faces removal and these charges.
Luke
The timing matters. He's being charged and pursued for deportation under a different administration than the one that created the pathway he used.
Mark
What happens next?
Mimi
The case will proceed through federal court. The temporary block on deportation buys him time, but it's not a permanent reprieve. The assault charge will be litigated separately.
El Pulso
- A bullet lodged in a man's upper back is the one fact both sides cannot argue away — everything else about the September 20 encounter in Austin remains bitterly contested.
- Federal authorities say Garces-Perez struck an ICE officer with his car mirror and led agents on a high-speed chase through residential streets; Garces-Perez says ICE caused the collision and shot him after forcing his car to a stop.
- Charged with assaulting a federal officer and facing a maximum of twenty years in prison, Garces-Perez learned of his own court hearing only after it had already concluded — a detail his legal team finds deeply troubling.
- A federal judge has temporarily blocked his deportation despite an existing removal order, creating a legal standoff that holds his fate in suspension while the criminal case proceeds.
- The Department of Homeland Security's claim that he has received 'some of the best medical care of his life' has collided publicly with his lawyers' warning that the unremoved bullet leaves him in grave danger.
On a September morning in Austin, Texas, a traffic stop became a flashpoint in the long-running tension between immigration enforcement and individual rights. Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan who entered the United States legally through an asylum program, was shot in the back by an ICE officer and now faces up to twenty years in federal prison — even as a bullet remains lodged in his spine and a judge has temporarily halted his deportation. The case turns on competing accounts of the same violent minutes, and in that gap between official record and personal testimony, larger questions about the conduct of enforcement on American streets quietly take root.
Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, was shot in the back by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on September 20 in Austin, Texas. He now faces a single federal count of assaulting, resisting, and impeding a federal officer — a charge that carries a maximum sentence of twenty years. A bullet remains lodged in his upper back. The two sides cannot agree on how it got there.
Authorities say the encounter began when an ICE officer ran a database check on a blue Toyota sedan and confirmed it belonged to Garces-Perez, who was under a final removal order. When the officer ordered him out of the car, he refused and drove away, allegedly striking the agent in the torso with his driver's side mirror as he accelerated. A high-speed chase through commercial and residential neighborhoods followed, ending when a federal SUV rammed his car hard enough to spin it around. The government says an officer then fired because Garces-Perez attempted to use the car as a weapon.
Garces-Perez tells a different story. He says an abrupt maneuver by the ICE vehicle caused the initial collision — a claim agents deny — and that he was shot through the back right window after being forced to stop. His lawyers say the bullet still inside him places him in grave danger. The Department of Homeland Security responded last week that he has received some of the best medical care of his life.
He appeared in court on Tuesday, though his legal team says they were not informed of the hearing until after it had already taken place. A federal judge has temporarily blocked his deportation despite the removal order that first brought ICE to his door. Garces-Perez had entered the United States in 2024 through CBP One, a Biden-era asylum program that President Trump later cancelled. That legal entry now sits quietly in the background of a case defined by irreconcilable accounts — and by the one piece of evidence neither side disputes.
Wilber Rafael Garces-Perez was shot in the back by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on September 20 in Austin, Texas. Now the 28-year-old Venezuelan faces federal assault charges. The government says he struck the agent with his car's side-view mirror while fleeing a traffic stop. Garces-Perez tells a different story: that ICE caused the collision in the first place, and that he was shot after being forced to stop. The competing accounts sit at the center of a case that has already drawn a judge's intervention and raised questions about how immigration enforcement unfolds on American streets.
The traffic stop began when an ICE officer confirmed through a database that the blue Toyota sedan belonged to Garces-Perez, who had been issued a final removal order from the United States. When the officer approached and ordered him out of the car, Garces-Perez refused. He knew what was coming. He drove away instead. According to the government's court filing, he struck the officer in the torso with the driver's side mirror as he accelerated. The filing describes what followed as a high-speed chase through commercial and residential neighborhoods. It ended when a federal agent's SUV rammed his car hard enough to spin it around.
Garces-Perez's account diverges sharply. He says the ICE vehicle caused the initial collision by executing an abrupt maneuver during the traffic stop—a claim the federal agents deny, stating there was no contact between their SUVs and his car when they first pulled him over. After the chase ended and his car came to a forced stop, Garces-Perez says an agent fired his pistol through the back right window. The justice department's version holds that the officer fired because Garces-Perez attempted to strike him with the car. The result was the same: a bullet lodged in his upper back. His lawyers say it remains there still, leaving him in grave danger. The Department of Homeland Security countered last week that Garces-Perez has received "some of the best medical care he's ever received in his life."
The charge Garces-Perez now faces is one count of assaulting, resisting, and impeding a federal officer. Conviction carries a maximum sentence of twenty years in federal prison. He appeared in court on Tuesday, though his legal team said they learned of the hearing only after it had already taken place. A federal judge has temporarily blocked his deportation, a decision that came despite the removal order that prompted the traffic stop in the first place.
Garces-Perez entered the United States in 2024 through CBP One, an asylum-seeker program that President Joe Biden introduced and President Donald Trump later cancelled. The program allowed migrants to request asylum before crossing the border. That legal entry point now sits in the background of a case defined by conflicting narratives about what happened during those minutes in Austin—who initiated contact, who struck whom, and whether the shooting was justified. The bullet in his back remains the only physical evidence that cannot be disputed.
Citas Notables
Some of the best medical care he's ever received in his life— Department of Homeland Security, responding to claims about the bullet wound
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