Across Austin, the name Wilber Garces Perez has become a rallying cry for opponents of Trump administration immigration policies.
Garces Perez was shot in North Austin by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent on Sunday. The incident is the latest in a string of violent encounters by ICE agents, including a fatal shooting in Houston in July, since the administration ramped up immigration enforcement.
Up until Sunday, friends and family say, the 28-year-old lived a quiet life in Austin after coming to the United States from Venezuela in 2024.
He focused on "family, soccer and work," his best friend since childhood told KUT News in Spanish.
The man, a fellow Venezuelan immigrant, asked not to be named for fear of negative consequences in the current political climate.
Garces Perez's life was "tranquilo," said the man. "He was working Monday to Monday. Didn't bother anyone."
Garces Perez came to the United States to escape political repression and to provide for his son in Venezuela who has special medical needs, according to the friend.
"He came [to the United States] totally legally. He came in with CBP One and he was working," said the man.
CBP One was a mobile app that allowed immigrants to process asylum claims and schedule immigration appointments under the Biden presidency. It was discontinued for that purpose under President Trump.
In Austin, Garces Perez lived with his wife, also from Venezuela, who is in the country working as a medical caregiver with plans to become a nurse.
"His wife says that he's very comforting for her," said Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the lawyer representing Garces Perez. "She works kind of late, and she just loves it that he is always there. She said he's not someone that goes out. He doesn't drink. He doesn't go out partying."
Lincoln-Goldfinch said his wife had asked him to stay home on Sunday afternoon, but he wanted to earn money driving for DoorDash.
"He was actively delivering DoorDash," before his encounter with ICE, she said. "He had just stopped at an Indian restaurant and was driving to deliver the food."
In an interview with Telemundo, Garces Perez's mother described her son as a hard worker who sends money to family in Venezuela for his son's treatment for cerebral palsy.
"Since childhood my son has been a hard worker," she said in Spanish. "Also for his son, who needs many things. Now, he needs a splint that costs $300."
Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez did not know that ICE had deportation orders against him until he was taken into custody on Sunday.
She said the orders were finalized because immigration officials sent a request for him to appear in court to the wrong address, causing him to miss the appointment.
"He updated his address with the court system, but they mailed his notice of hearing to the previous address," she said. "It happens all the time."
While not addressing whether the court summons was sent to an old address, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed in a statement that the removal orders were made in absentia.
"This is why aliens must show up to their removal proceedings," the statement said. "Legal obligations do not end because someone's address changed."
Garces Perez remains in custody at an ICE detention facility in Pearsall. A federal judge has ordered that he must be present at a Sept. 30 court hearing.
When asked whether he thought the protest sparked by Garces Perez's shooting may change immigration enforcement policy, Garces Perez's childhood friend said he hoped so, but he was not counting on it.
"One must be realistic," he said. "In this case, it happened to Wilber. It happened to another person before, and more cases will keep coming."
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