Austin bodycam shows 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, the illegal migrant from Venezuela, shows that he was still sitting in the driver’s seat of his Toyota, holding his shoulder, when police arrived.
He was not pulled out of the car by law enforcement, in fact, when they saw him hunched over in the seat they immediately called for Medical help.
Perez, who came into the country during the Biden administration and has a final order of removal, was shot after he took agents on a high speed chase along the U.S. 183 frontage road.
He was taken to a hospital, then moved into ICE custody.
Pérez told reporters he was sideswiped twice by an unmarked vehicle that he did not know was ICE, tried to park, and was then shot while still in the car. However, witnesses say ICE announced themselves and Perez took off.
Surveillance video shows the high speed chase with agents following, lights flashing and sirens blaring.
Almost immediately anti-ICE agitators who were organized by chapters of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Democratic Socialists of America, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization, were out on the streets.
They were waving foreign flags and throwing things at agents, like rocks.
Texas DPS troopers moved in as the protest turned violent.
Democrats including Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, Rep. Greg Casar, and Rep. Joaquin Castro condemned ICE before the bodycam of the aftermath was public.
Republicans say now that the surveillance video and body cam footage has been released, it proves that Perez and his attorney aren’t telling the truth.
DHS has since released a bullet-point list of facts proven by video evidence:
- ICE did not refuse to removed the bullet from the illegal migrants body – ICE does not have the authority to perform medical procedures.
- The illegal alien did not have a valid work permit, it expired in 2025 and a work permit does NOT grant legal status.
- The illegal migrant is in the country illegally, an came in during the Biden administration. He did not have a valid work permit, did not have protective status and had a final order of removal from an immigration judge.
- The illegal migrant is receiving medical treatment including pain medication.
- The illegal alien has not been forced to sleep on the floor. He was released from the hospital and arrived at the detention facility where he slept on a bed.
- Illegal migrants in ICE custody receive a higher standard of living than most prisons that hold U.S. citizens.
- The illegal migrant was the subject of a targeted vehicle stop. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S.
DHS Sec. Mullin statement:
“Sanctuary politicians and the mainstream media have wasted no time in spreading lies about an ICE officer-involved śh́óóting of an illegal alien in Austin, Texas”
“Contrary to their claims, this person is an illegal alien who has no legal status to be here and has been given some of the best medical care he’s ever received in his life. No amount of smears and false narratives will slow down ICE from doing its job by removing dangerous illegal aliens from our communities and making America safe again.”
“Sanctuary politicians may continue to shamelessly protect illegal aliens, but the Trump Administration will remain focused on protecting the American people.”
