RELEASE: Casar Leads 100+ Members Demanding Medical Care, Not Deportation, for Man Shot by ICE in Austin

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Greg Casar and over 100 Members of Congress demanded that ICE release Wilber Rafael Garces Perez from detention to allow him to receive medical treatment and stop its efforts to deport him. Mr. Garces Perez is a 28-year-old DoorDash driver who was shot in the back by an ICE agent in Austin on September 20th.

In a letter authored by Casar to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Director David Venturella, the Members demand that:

• ICE release Mr. Garces Perez from detention so he can receive medical treatment;
• ICE abandon efforts to swiftly deport him or remove him from Texas;
• The ICE agent responsible remain in Texas; and
• DHS preserve all available evidence related to the shooting and share all evidence with parties that have jurisdiction to conduct a full, independent, and transparent investigation.

Mr. Garces Perez is being held at "the South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall, Texas, which has a documented history of medical neglect," the Members write. "According to his lawyers, he 'still has the bullet lodged in his body. He's received no pain medication and had to sleep on the floor.'" On September 21, after a visit from Congressman Joaquin Castro's staff, he was briefly taken to a hospital before being returned to detention. According to his cellmate, he was "roughly handled and handcuffed" beforehand, and he has since "reported losing sensation on the left side of his body."

"Mr. Garces Perez is a key witness to this shooting, and given ICE's history of obscuring the facts in similar investigations, he must not be removed," the Members write.

The Members request answers by Monday, September 28th. Their questions include:

• Why did agents use deadly force?
• ICE's use of force policy requires officers to render medical aid, and video suggests they did not. Why was that policy not followed?
• What is Mr. Garces Perez's current medical condition? What treatment is he receiving in immigration detention?
• Will ICE release all bodycam footage?

The letter was copied to FBI Director Kash Patel and DHS Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari.

The full letter can be viewed here.

The letter was signed by U.S. Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Becca Balint, Nanette Barragán, Wesley Bell, Donald Beyer, Everton Blair, Brendan Boyle, Shontel Brown, Janelle Bynum, André Carson, Greg Casar, Joaquin Castro, Judy Chu, Gilbert Cisneros, Yvette Clarke, Lou Correa, Joe Courtney, Jasmine Crockett, Jason Crow, Sharice Davids, Madeleine Dean, Diana DeGette, Christopher Deluzio, Mark DeSaulnier, Maxine Dexter, Lloyd Doggett, Veronica Escobar, Adriano Espaillat, Lizzie Fletcher, Laura Friedman, Maxwell Frost, John Garamendi, Jesús García, Robert Garcia, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Al Green, Adelita Grijalva, Steven Horsford, Chrissy Houlahan, Val Hoyle, Jared Huffman, Jonathan Jackson, Sara Jacobs, Pramila Jayapal, Julie Johnson, Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Robin Kelly, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Summer Lee, Teresa Leger Fernandez, Sam Liccardo, Seth Magaziner, Sarah McBride, Betty McCollum, Morgan McGarvey, James McGovern, LaMonica McIver, Analilia Mejia, Christian Menefee, Robert Menendez, Kweisi Mfume, Dave Min, Gwen Moore, Kelly Morrison, Eleanor Norton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Frank Pallone, Brittany Pettersen, Mark Pocan, Nellie Pou, Ayanna Pressley, Mike Quigley, Delia Ramirez, Emily Randall, Luz Rivas, Andrea Salinas, Mary Gay Scanlon, Lateefah Simon, Adam Smith, Eric Sorensen, Melanie Stansbury, Mark Takano, Bennie Thompson, Mike Thompson, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Jill Tokuda, Paul Tonko, Ritchie Torres, Lori Trahan, Derek Tran, Gabe Vasquez, Marc Veasey, Nydia Velázquez, James Walkinshaw, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

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Congressman Greg Casar represents Texas’s 35th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, which runs down I-35 from East Austin to Hays County to the West Side of San Antonio. A labor organizer and son of Mexican immigrants, Casar serves as the Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for the 119th Congress. He also serves on the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability.