Venezuelan man shot by ICE officer in Texas is charged with assault

What the report says

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker, has been charged in federal court in Austin, Texas, with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer after a September 20 encounter with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. According to Al Jazeera’s reporting, prosecutors say the case began during a DoorDash delivery near a shopping center, when officers checked his vehicle, approached him and later alleged that he struck one of them with his car’s side mirror.

The complaint says the exchange was initially calm, but that Garces Perez drove away after closing his window, hit an officer, and then allegedly tried to drive toward him during a chase, prompting the officer to fire. Garces Perez disputes that account. Through his attorneys and in statements to investigators cited by the report, he says an enforcement vehicle struck his car first and that he was shot in the back. He has been held in a detention facility in south Texas since the shooting.

The case has drawn attention because Garces Perez remains injured, with his lawyer saying the bullet is still lodged in his body and that he suffered a fractured clavicle. The Department of Homeland Security says he is receiving adequate medical care. His legal team is also trying to block his removal from the United States while a separate immigration hearing is pending.

Al Jazeera said Garces Perez entered the U.S. in 2024 through CBP One, a Biden-era appointment system later ended by President Donald Trump and replaced with a self-deportation app. The broader case arrives amid intensified immigration enforcement under Trump’s second term.