Two Democratic lawmakers — Texas Reps. Greg Casar and Joaquin Castro — have opened a review of shootings carried out by federal immigration enforcement personnel, among them an incident in North Austin in which a Venezuelan man sustained a gunshot wound. A legislative hearing tied to the shooting of Wilber Garcés-Pérez in Austin has placed federal immigration enforcement methods and body-camera policies under scrutiny.
Casar, whose congressional district takes in portions of both the Austin and San Antonio regions, is scheduled to attend the field hearing alongside fellow Democratic members drawn from the House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security and Enforcement. Legislators have scheduled hearings to examine shooting incidents involving ICE agents and other federal officers carrying out immigration duties, as well as potential adjustments to enforcement protocols intended to lower the likelihood of violent confrontations.
A Government Accountability Office report referenced during the hearing noted that federal immigration enforcement agents are in line to receive body cameras under a $20 million funding package approved by Congress for the current fiscal year. Among the findings documented in the report was a tally of gunshot casualties tied to encounters with federal immigration enforcement personnel — a count that stood at a minimum of 25 wounded, with six of those having lost their lives.
Court documents show that Garcés-Pérez was taken into custody by federal agents following a removal order issued by an immigration judge. According to the prosecution's account, Garcés-Pérez did not comply with officers' instructions, raised his window, pulled away in his vehicle, and in doing so made contact with an officer via his side mirror. A pursuit through the surrounding streets followed.
Of the two ICE personnel involved in the pursuit, only one carried a body camera — and that individual had not discharged a weapon, while the agent who did fire lacked any recording equipment. Footage from the officer's body camera covered the traffic stop and segments of the pursuit, though the moment of the shooting fell outside its recording.
Court filings show that a collision between an SUV and Garcés-Pérez's vehicle brought the pursuit to a halt. According to the prosecution's account, he attempted to use his vehicle to strike an officer, at which point the officer discharged a firearm. Garcés-Pérez has put forward a different account of what took place. According to his account given to investigators, a police SUV collided with his vehicle first — rotating it — after which he was shot.
After receiving medical attention, he was moved into the custody of an ICE detention centre located in Pearsall, a town southwest of San Antonio. At an Austin proceeding, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Howell determined that sufficient grounds existed to bring charges against Garcés-Pérez covering assault, resistance, interference, and obstruction of a federal officer. Bond was withheld by Howell, who pointed to the seriousness of the charge and a pattern of prior failures to appear in court.
Garcés-Pérez appeared at the courtroom in a wheelchair, one arm held in a sling and a bullet that had not been removed still lodged in his back.
Debate over whether federal immigration enforcement officers should carry body cameras — and how much force those officers may lawfully apply — has gained renewed attention in the wake of the shooting. A Government Accountability Office review found that federal immigration enforcement personnel had been involved in no fewer than 25 shooting incidents across Texas, six of which proved fatal. A $20 million allocation for body cameras worn by immigration enforcement personnel passed through the legislature during the current fiscal period.
Calls from lawmakers for body cameras on all agents — set to activate automatically when incidents unfold — have not been adopted by ICE. Body camera instruction for Department of Homeland Security personnel is currently in progress, with completion anticipated in the near term.
Castro and Casar have put forward a joint demand for independent inquiries into shootings where immigration officers were involved, as well as the public release of any body camera recordings tied to those incidents. Castro described the agency as having become an organisation that operates outside its sanctioned boundaries and engages in abusive conduct. He also raised doubts about whether a joint investigation between Homeland Security and the FBI would be carried out without bias, and described Homeland Security as an agency that had, at that point, lost all public trust.
Two agencies — the Austin Police Department's Special Investigations Unit and the Texas Rangers — have opened a probe into the circumstances surrounding the shooting. A House hearing set for Austin at 11:30 in the morning is available to watch live on YouTube.
