The Austin man shot by an ICE officer while delivering food has finally had surgery to remove the bullet from his back — 11 days after the incident occurred.
Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garces Perez underwent surgery Thursday morning and is now recovering, according to statements from his attorneys and U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio.
While Garces Perez was transported to an Austin hospital after his Sept. 20 shooting, he was released just a few hours later and placed in federal custody. He’s since been held in an immigrant detention prison in Pearsall, roughly an hour southwest of San Antonio.
Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged Garces Perez with assaulting and resisting a federal officer. During a preliminary hearing the following day, a federal judge ruled that he should remain locked up because he poses a flight risk.
Garces Perez appeared in the federal courtroom in a wheelchair with his arm in a sling,
according to the Texas Tribune.
Garces Perez was able to speak to his wife following his surgery, his lead attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, told the Tribune. However, Castro requested that ICE allow her to see him prior to the procedure.
“My office is pushing for her to be allowed there to support him,” the congressman tweeted Thursday, prior to the surgery. “ICE has done enough to torment this family.”
NBC News reports that Garces Perez’s attorneys argued in courtroom testimony that the two officers who pursued his vehicle did so in violation of new ICE orders barring personnel from engaging in high-speed chases and from making vehicle stops without having proper training.
What’s more, during Garces Perez’s bond hearing, testimony revealed that the ICE officer who shot him didn’t have a body camera, according to NBC News. The officer who did have a body cam was driving in a separate car and switched it off during the pursuit.
Garces Perez’s attorneys maintain that he’s in the U.S. legally and has a valid work permit. His asylum request was working its way through the courts when he was arrested, they argue.
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