On Sunday, September 20, 2026, ICE agents rammed Austin resident Wilber Rafael Garces Perez’s car twice and then shot him in the back while he was still in his vehicle. ICE agents, alongside Texas DPS and Austin Police officers handcuffed him and took him to Dell Seton Medical Center, where he was barely given medical aid and the bullet lodged near his spine was not removed, before being released back into ICE custody mere hours after being shot. Hospital security refused to allow Mr. Garces Perez’s wife or lawyer to see him, and refused to confirm his condition. For several hours, his family believed that ICE had killed him.
ICE agents took Mr. Garces Perez to South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas where he was forced to sleep on the floor, in extreme cold, while suffering immense pain due to the still-unremoved bullet. He was kept from speaking to his family or attorney for almost 24 hours. Almost immediately, protests erupted at the scene of the shooting and lasted long into the night. APD and DPS officers provided cover for ICE agents and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to secure the scene. They fired pepper balls at protestors, injuring several, including a 14-year-old boy who they struck in the face making him vomit.
We are reminded of a similar incident two months ago, when ICE agents shot and killed Houston resident Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on his way to work. Or in March of last year, when ICE killed Ruben Ray Martinez in South Padre Island, and the federal government covered up the truth of ICE’s involvement for over a year. Texas is reeling from these losses and more, from the abductions of community members from their homes to the terrorization of working people and their families.
For Texans, the violence of immigration enforcement is woven into the fabric of daily life. State laws like SB 4 (2017), SB 4 (2023), and SB 8 strip local communities of their power to enact sanctuary city policies and mandate county sheriffs’ open collaboration with ICE through 287(g) agreements. Others, like HB 1900 and the so-called “Death Star Bill” (HB 2127), remove even the possibility of home rule for Texas cities by taking away their power to lower police budgets or set regulations on local labor safety policies, environmental protections, and economic decisions. Further, Governor Greg Abbott launched “Operation Lone Star” in 2021, effectively creating a parallel version of U.S. border patrol run by the State of Texas. All of these laws have been swiftly passed through the fascistic, Republican-dominated state legislature in the last 10 years. They set the stage for the violence we continue to see today.
We first wish to echo the demands by Garces Perez’s family and attorneys:
- The IMMEDIATE release of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez;
- An independent and local investigation of the incident, with local law enforcement, including D.A. José Garza, given full access to evidence and witnesses and the capacity to investigate and prosecute any criminal offenses by federal agents;
- The release of all footage related to the shooting, as well as publicly identifying the shooter and requiring that he stay in the state and face investigation;
- An end to violent and unlawful tactics used by ICE agents, including using their vehicles as weapons, shooting at or in moving vehicles, and the arrest quotas that drive this violence;
- An end to 287(g) agreements at all levels of local and state government, including Texas DPS, and an end to DPS assisting ICE agents with racially-profiled traffic stops;
- ICE out of Austin. Abolish ICE.
As socialists in Texas, we have long known that our state is the front line in the struggle against fascist, white nationalist policies in government. DSA chapters across Texas have made these demands before. We have put out similar statements across the state over the last year, each time highlighting the pain of our neighbors, the chaos of state violence, and the desperation of our communities to get ICE out, full stop. This latest shooting must be the last.
Now is the time for an escalation of demands, not cowardice or inaction. We can and must fight back, at every level of power we hold. Therefore, we further demand:
- Austin City Council and ALL Texas cities and counties must push back against unconstitutional state laws, reintroduce Sanctuary City policies, and CEASE and REFUSE any and all collaboration on immigration enforcement;
- The Texas state legislature must REPEAL state laws that prevent cities from governing themselves (like SB 4 (2017), SB 4 (2023), SB 8, HB 1900, and HB 2127) and return local control to local governments;
- The governor must END Operation Lone Star and use the billions of wasted taxpayer dollars to fund communities instead;
- Texas cities and counties must BAN all AI surveillance tech like automated license plate readers (ALPRs) across the state that are used DAILY to track and arrest our community members, provided through contracts with Flock, Axon, and other companies;
- The federal government must HALT all deportations now and reunite all the families who have been forcibly separated;
- We must ABOLISH the current violent immigration enforcement system and instead establish a new system that includes a meaningful pathway to citizenship for all those who call the United States home. Abolish ICE. Abolish CBP. Abolish DHS.
We call on our members, our coworkers, and our neighbors to continue joining the organic protests and vigils held in support of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. We must remain in the streets and continue organizing our workplaces and our neighborhoods to keep ICE out!
FUCK ICE
CHINGA LA MIGRA
SOLIDARITY FOREVER
Signed:
- Austin DSA
- San Antonio DSA
- Houston DSA
- Rio Grande Valley DSA
- DSA North Texas
- UT San Antonio YDSA
- Paso del Norte DSA
- Corpus Christi DSA
- Fort Worth DSA