In the city of Austin, Texas, an ICE agent, the US government agency that deals with border control and combating illegal immigration, shot a boy and seriously injured him: it happened on Sunday 20 September. The injured person is Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan identified by the family’s lawyer: he is now hospitalized in serious but stable conditions. In a press conference, local authorities said that the officer shot him in the chest after stopping him for a roadside check and while he was still in the car, but that they still don’t have much information on how things went.
The shot and the protests
According to initial information provided by the Austin police, there was a short chase after the arrest. The city’s police officers were not involved in the ICE operation and local authorities have specified that several aspects of the incident have yet to be clarified. The mayor of Austin, Kirk Watson, has asked that local police be allowed to participate in the investigations, in order to guarantee an independent verification of the work of federal agents.
The episode provoked a protest at the site of the shooting: a large group of people gathered to protest against the violence of ICE, which has become one of the most feared and discussed police forces in the United States, as well as the main instrument of President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policies.
In July and August the agency surpassed 50,000 monthly arrests for the first time in its history.