US judge blocks deportation of DoorDash driver shot by ICE
The delivery driver was transferred from a hospital to a detention centre after the shooting on Sunday.
**US judge blocks deportation of DoorDash driver shot by ICE**
A US judge has temporarily halted the deportation of a Venezuelan man who was shot by immigration agents in Texas, according to his lawyer.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, is being held in a detention centre with a bullet still in his back, his lawyer said. Judge Orlando Garcia, a Clinton appointee, has set a hearing for Garces Perez to appear in court in person next week.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said an "illegal alien" had been the target of a vehicle stop, while rejecting claims that he had not received proper medical treatment.
The case comes months after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot a man in Houston.
Garces Perez's immigration lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order to stop his removal from the country.
Because the judge ordered her client to appear in person on 30 September, he cannot be deported before then, she said.
"For now, we have secured a temporary block on his deportation while his case moves forward," Lincoln-Goldfinch wrote on social media.
"This is an important step, but our work is not over," she wrote. "Wilber still needs appropriate medical care, and we will continue fighting to protect his rights."
Lincoln-Goldfinch said the gunshot fractured his clavicle and that he is wearing a sling while suffering "significant swelling and pain."
She said the cause or extent of the loss of movement he experienced has not yet been determined.
A spokesperson for the US Attorney's Office in Texas declined to comment on the case.
On Tuesday, DHS rejected what it called "false narratives" about the incident, blaming sanctuary cities and the media for "spreading lies" and discouraging people from resisting officers and evading arrest.
"Contrary to their claims, this person is an illegal alien who has no legal status to be here and has been given some of the best medical care he's ever received in his life," DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement to the BBC.
DHS said the man, whom it did not name, was "the subject of a targeted vehicle stop" and that his work permit expired last year.
"No amount of smears and false narratives will slow down ICE from doing its job by removing dangerous illegal aliens from our communities and making America safe again," Mullin said.
The Austin Police Department, which was not involved in the incident, released dashcam and body camera footage on Tuesday showing officers at the scene.
The footage does not show the shooting, but one dashcam clip captures several gunshots, while another shows officers approaching Garces Perez's car and detaining him. At one point, Garces Perez's t-shirt is cut to reveal what appears to be a single gunshot in his back.
Lincoln-Goldfinch previously told the BBC that after he was unable to move his arm in the detention facility, Garces Perez was taken back to hospital on Monday evening. He was treated there and has since been returned to the detention facility.
She said he was handcuffed, shackled at the ankles, placed in a waist chain, and handled roughly during the transfer despite his injury.
Lincoln-Goldfinch also said detention personnel had revoked his communication privileges and moved him from an infirmary into an isolated room with a flat, non-adjustable bed.
In its statement on Tuesday, DHS said Garces Perez had received medical care "around the clock" and denied claims that he received no pain medication and was forced to sleep on the floor.
"This alien was released from the hospital and arrived at the detention facility just a few hours later, where he slept on a bed," DHS said.
Texas lawmaker Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, on Tuesday called for the Venezuelan national's release from detention.
Local and state officials have pushed for an independent investigation into the shooting, which happened on Sunday afternoon.
Hours later, dozens of protesters, some waving the flags of Mexico and Guatemala, gathered at the scene with signs demanding that ICE leave the city.
DHS said on Tuesday that ICE "will not be slowing down nor leaving Austin".
The man's lawyer told US media he was making a DoorDash delivery when an unmarked black truck sideswiped his car.
He did not know the truck was an ICE vehicle and made a U-turn, she said. His car was hit again before agents got out and shot him, according to the attorney.