Local ICE oversight letters echo in national DHS fight
City and county oversight letters after an Austin ICE shooting now echo in House Democratic demands on DHS. Officials want body-worn camera video and a deportation pause before a Sept. 30 hearing. DHS says the driver had a final removal order and that ICE will remain in Austin.
An ICE officer shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan DoorDash driver, during a Sept. 20 vehicle stop on Austin's north side. Austin police and the Texas Rangers opened local investigations. The Travis County district attorney asked DHS and ICE to keep Garces Perez in the country as a material witness. On Sept. 24, House Homeland Security Democrats led by Ranking Member Bennie Thompson wrote Secretary Markwayne Mullin demanding body-worn and other video, the officer's use-of-force history, medical and transfer records, and a halt to removal while probes continue. Rep. Greg Casar and other Texas Democrats pressed the same points after a detention-center welfare check.
NBC News reported that the shooting officer had been issued a body camera but was not wearing it; a second officer's camera captured only part of the encounter and missed the shots. Austin police released bystander and off-duty-officer video of the aftermath, including the sound of three gunshots. U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ordered Garces Perez to appear in person at a Sept. 30 hearing in San Antonio, effectively pausing deportation before that date. Garces Perez remains in ICE custody at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall with a bullet still lodged near his spine, according to his attorney.
Accounts still clash on immigration status and medical care. Garces Perez's attorney says he entered through a lawful pathway, sought asylum, and later missed a hearing after a notice went to an old address. DHS says he is in the country illegally with a final removal order, that his work permit expired in 2025, and that he has received round-the-clock medical care including pain medication. Secretary Mullin said ICE will not slow down or leave Austin.
The oversight push echoes the national argument that dominated Homeland Security talks earlier in 2026, when Democrats sought identification, warrant, and body-camera guardrails on ICE after deadly Minnesota encounters and Republicans defended operational continuity. ICE later received multi-year funding outside the ordinary annual cliff, so this week's live fight is oversight and evidence access — not a fresh shutdown deadline. The Sept. 30 hearing and any DHS reply to the House letter are the next public checkpoints.
Where outlets agree NBC, AP, the Washington Examiner, and the New York Post agree an ICE officer shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin on Sept. 20 and that oversight demands plus a Sept. 30 court hearing now frame the case.
Where they differ NBC and AP stress body-camera gaps, medical-care disputes, and Democratic oversight letters; the Examiner and New York Post foreground DHS's account that Garces Perez had a final removal order and that ICE will keep operating in Austin.