Wilber Garcés Case: Judge Halts Deportation Following ICE Attack in Austin

Federal District Judge Orlando L. García ordered an immediate halt to the deportation of Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Venezuelan delivery driver was shot and wounded by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Austin, Texas. The court ruling determined that immigration authorities cannot expel the young man from the country before he appears at a hearing scheduled for September 30, 2026.

What Did the Court Rule in the Wilber Garcés Case?

The judicial decision responds to an emergency federal lawsuit filed on September 21, 2026 under the case Garcés Pérez v. Thompson and others. Defense attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch sought court intervention due to the imminent risk that her client would be summarily expelled after being discharged from the hospital.

Judge García ordered that the young man must be physically present in the courtroom for the initial session. Consequently, the court order suspends any forced removal proceedings while the constitutional claim is evaluated.

The legal defense argued that deporting the witness and primary victim would impede the investigation into the use of excessive lethal force. Additionally, the hearing will allow examination of whether the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violated basic due process protections by transferring him to a detention facility without completing his medical treatment.

How Did the Austin Shooting Occur?

The violent incident occurred on Sunday afternoon, September 20, 2026 in northern Austin. According to witness accounts gathered by local media, Garcés Pérez was making deliveries for the DoorDash platform when immigration agents intercepted him.

During the street operation, a federal officer fired a shot from behind that struck the worker’s torso. As a result, the bullet lodged dangerously near his spinal column. The young man was initially taken to Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas in serious but stable condition.

Hours later, the patient was discharged from the hospital and was handed directly into ICE custody. According to Univision, federal authorities transferred him to the South Texas Immigration Processing Center in Pearsall, located more than 200 kilometers from the Texas capital, before requiring a new medical evaluation.

What Is His Immigration Status and the DHS Official Version?

The Department of Homeland Security issued an institutional statement confirming the detention of the foreign national. The DHS stated that the individual involved is an undocumented immigrant who entered national territory without proper authorization and maintained a final removal order issued by an immigration judge.