A US judge has temporarily blocked the deportation of a Venezuelan man who was shot by immigration agents in Texas, his lawyer says. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, is being held in a detention centre with a bullet in his back, according to his lawyer. Judge Orlando Garcia, a Clinton appointee, scheduled a hearing for Garces Perez to appear in court in person next week.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said it is investigating the shooting of an illegal migrant in the Texan capital, but have not confirmed he was shot in the back. It comes months after a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shot a man in Houston. Texas ICE shooting leaves Venezuelan DoorDash driver with bullet in his back, says lawyer Garces Perez's immigration lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, has filed a federal lawsuit for a temporary restraining order to prevent his removal from the country.
Since the judge ordered that her client 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." The gunshot fractured his clavicle and he is wearing a sling while having "significant swelling and pain," Lincoln-Goldfinch said. The cause or extent of the loss of movement he experienced has not yet been determined, she said. A spokesperson for US Attorney's Office in Texas declined to comment on the case.
Lincoln-Goldfinch previously told the BBC that after being 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. He said he was handcuffed, shackled at the ankles, placed in a waist chain, and handled roughly during his transfer, despite his injury, she said.
Lincoln-Goldfinch added that detention personnel had revoked his communication privileges and moved him from an infirmary into an isolated room with a flat, non-adjustable bed. Texas lawmaker Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, on Tuesday demanded the Venezuelan national's release from detention. Local and state officials have pushed for an independent investigation into the shooting, which occurred just before on Sunday afternoon.
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