U.S. Rep. Greg Casar told reporters Wednesday that a doctor who examined the man shot by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Austin over the weekend has recommended that he undergo surgery to remove a bullet still lodged in his back.
As of press time, neither ICE nor Homeland Security, the White House department overseeing the agency, has said whether they will allow the wounded man, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, to have the procedure.
“Any person that is in any federal facility, locked up anywhere, has the rights, like anyone else, to adequate medical care,” said Casar, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Austin and San Antonio. “And, if a doctor recommends surgery, and the patient chooses to take them up on that, then they absolutely should not be held back. So, I am calling on ICE to not get in the way of any surgery Wilber needs.”
The update provided by Casar during a press conference in San Antonio comes as the public and the news media try to sort out the details about what went down between ICE agents and Perez during a Sunday traffic stop. Earlier this week, the Austin American-Statesman reported that it had obtained footage showing Perez evading ICE agents during a high-speed chase.
Casar deflected questions about the footage, instead encouraging Perez and his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, to cooperate with local law enforcement in the investigation.
Casar, who visited Perez at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about 50 miles southwest of San Antonio, before the presser, said he was unsure whether Perez suffered paralysis from the bullet wound. However, he did say that Perez was in a wheelchair during the visit.
“He has very significant pain in his [left] side, that caused some loss of feeling because of the intensity of that pain,” Casar told reporters. “With this injection for pain relief, he said he was feeling better. But we will see how he feels after he’s been treated that way for some amount of time.”
Democrat James Talarico, who is engaged in a fierce battle for the Texas Senate seat against Republican Ken Paxton, described Perez as paralyzed during an appearance on MSNOW this week.
“How does paralyzing a DoorDash driver make anyone more safe?” Talarico said.
Perez was transferred to the detention center in Pearsall after being discharged from the Dell Seton Medical Center mere hours after being shot in the back.
Casar said Perez told him that ICE was “anxious” to get him out of the hospital as soon as possible, and that he was unable to speak to his primary physician before being released back into custody.
“The government should not be allowed to shoot you, take you to the hospital briefly, pull you out of the hospital, have you sleep on concrete floor bleeding and then not have you see a specialist for days,” Casar said.
Casar said Wilbur’s treatment by ICE raises serious concerns about the rights of all Americans — immigrants and otherwise.
However, the White House’s version of events remains drastically different.
Following Casar’s press conference, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in a tweet, called the congressman’s assertion that ICE isn’t providing adequate medical care a “shameless fabrication.”
“The illegal alien is receiving around-the-clock medical care, including pain medications,” DHS said.
“It is longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody, including 24-hour emergency care,” DHS also said in its tweet. “ICE has higher detention standards than most American prisons that hold actual American citizens.”
Perez and his attorney maintain that he entered the country legally under the Biden administration and was likely targeted for deportation because confusion over his current address caused him to miss a court date.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has personally weighed in on that matter, disputing Perez’s legal status.
“Contrary to Casar’s claims, this illegal alien — who entered illegally under the Biden Administration — had NO valid work permit, NO legal status, and had a FINAL order of removal,” Mullin tweeted. “Under President Trump, DHS is enforcing the law. Period.”
University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus told the Current that he worries debates over the truth surrounding cases similar to Perez’s may become more common unless there is more oversight of ICE.
“Transparency has become a political issue, and the concern is not just that these events are happening, but that there’s no way to get the truth once they’ve happened,” Rottinghaus said. “So, I think that itself is creating a lot of fear and pushback to what the government is doing.”
So far, ICE has refused to release its bodycam and dashboard footage to the public or Austin authorities.
Perez is set to appear in federal court in San Antonio on Sept. 30. A judge has blocked his deportation until then.
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