Democrat lawmakers review ICE shootings

On September 20th, Wilbur Garces-Perez was shot in the back by federal agents while driving along Anderson Square. The bullet stayed in his back for two weeks. Congressman Greg Casar read a statement from Garces-Perez's wife during a congressional hearing in Austin. After surgery, he has not even fully woken up from the anesthesia when they already had him handcuffed again and ready to take him back to jail where he remains to this day. Overnight, the life of a young man full of light and health changed drastically behind bars. This is the first time in his life he's set foot in a prison, and being locked up while innocent, having suffered from paralysis and intense pain, and seeing himself unjustly deprived of his freedom, has pledged him into a severe and devastating crisis of anxiety and depression. Attorneys with the Texas Immigration Law Council say the identity of the agent who shot him has not been released, and the agent wasn't wearing a body camera. A second agent turned off his camera. This is clearly problematic because we repeatedly hear stories of people that are being violently assaulted by ICE agents. Austin police and the Travis County DA's office have requested evidence from federal agencies multiple times, but haven't gotten anything back. However, APD evidence shows Garces Perez was pulled over by ICE and led them on a chase. ICE has stated Perez had a deportation order. It is very important that we have transparency and accountability in all of these cases. Casar says only 5% of people in ICE detention have criminal convictions. The Trump administration has said many migrants must be deported, connecting some to violent crimes. At the hearing, lawmakers also brought up multiple other cases of people being injured or killed by ICE. In Houston, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot in July. Ruben Ray Martinez was a U.S. citizen who was shot and killed by DHS in South Padre while driving with a friend in 2025. His mother describes a lack of transparency. Throughout the whole entire process, I didn't hear from them once. Lawmakers described the same pattern in ICE shootings. They are also refusing to provide any requested information or evidence to local police investigators. Lawmakers proposed legislation to require body cameras for all DHS agencies. They also want to eliminate private for-profit detention centers and end federal agreements with local agencies to do immigration enforcement. ICE has rejected a government report recommendation to automatically activate body cameras, claiming it could create privacy concerns.