The Briefing:
- High schoolers from Pflugerville ISD left class Tuesday, Sept. 22, and rallied at their city's justice center; AFP counted about 100, the Statesman about 150, and students at Hays CISD and Austin 's Navarro High staged walkouts of their own.
- Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez , 28, shot by an ICE officer Sunday while delivering for DoorDash, is back in detention in Pearsall with the bullet still near his spine after a second hospital trip for loss of movement on his left side, his lawyer says.
- A federal judge in San Antonio ordered him brought to court in person on Sept. 30 at noon, which blocks any deportation until then; DHS says ICE will keep up its Austin operations.
Roughly 100 teenagers from Pflugerville's high schools walked out of class on Tuesday, Sept. 22, and gathered outside the city's municipal court to denounce Sunday's shooting of Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan delivery driver wounded by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in North Austin, AFP reported.
The protest now has a clock attached to it. In one week, a federal judge will hear Garcés Pérez's bid to leave ICE custody and avoid removal, and many of the students who marched said they came on behalf of immigrant parents who feel they cannot speak up.
Flags, Chants and a Stone Sign
Students chanted, held up "ICE out" posters and scrambled onto the justice center's stone marker, while classmates hung out of passing cars with Mexican flags at the corner of Dessau Road and East Pfenning Lane, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Estella, 16, was born in the United States and had painted the flags of Guatemala and Mexico on her cheeks in honor of her parents. Speaking for families she said have gone quiet out of fear, she told AFP: "I'm here and I'm glad to be their voice."
Gia Acosta, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen, argued that Pflugerville had a stake even though the shooting took place miles away. "It doesn't matter where it happened," she told CBS Austin.
A Wider Wave Across Central Texas
Pflugerville was not alone. Students at several Hays CISD campuses in Kyle also left class Tuesday, KXAN reported. In Austin ISD, pupils at Navarro Early College High School held their own walkout. A Navarro student named Jose told the Statesman that some classmates know members of Garcés Pérez's family and that his school has lost enrollment, adding: "I see my neighbors get disappeared."
How big was the crowd? AFP estimated about 100 students in Pflugerville, while a separate Statesman report on the same rally put the figure near 150. Local coverage said participants came from all five of the district's high schools.
School Districts Step Back
Pflugerville ISD Superintendent Quintin Shepherd wrote to families on Monday that the district was not behind the event and that its ability to protect students shrinks once they leave campus without permission, according to local reporting. Austin ISD and Del Valle ISD sent similar messages, the Statesman noted, saying they respect but do not sponsor student protests.
The stance reflects earlier friction. When anti-ICE walkouts spread through Central Texas schools in January and February, Gov. Greg Abbott and other state leaders urged that several districts be investigated. On Tuesday, Abbott told reporters that the facts of Sunday's shooting were still unclear and that he would keep monitoring the case, CBS Austin reported.
What Happened on Research Boulevard
The shooting took place shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, near Research Boulevard and Anderson Square. Garcés Pérez was struck in the torso, and DoorDash confirmed he was on a delivery at the time, Latin Times reported. DHS described the encounter as a targeted vehicle stop.
The two sides describe the minutes before the gunfire differently. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, says an unmarked vehicle sideswiped his Toyota Corolla twice and that he was shot while trying to pull over. Footage released Tuesday by Austin police, recorded by an off-duty detective, shows ICE vehicles around his car roughly 15 minutes earlier, and police radio traffic referred to a pursuit; three shots can be heard on the detective's phone video. KVUE said the footage appears to contradict parts of the attorneys' version.
Hospital, Detention, Then Hospital Again
Speaking to journalists over the phone on Monday, Garcés Pérez said the round broke his collarbone and stopped near his spine. Doctors decided against removing it because of that location, yet he was moved within hours to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, some 130 miles southwest of the capital. Late Monday he was rushed to a hospital again after losing movement on his left side, then returned to Pearsall on Tuesday, Latin Times reported.
Lincoln-Goldfinch says her client is being given only Tylenol and ibuprofen, is held in isolation and lost access to the tablet he used to communicate after he spoke to the media, CBS News reported. DHS disputes that picture, telling the AP he receives constant medical attention, including pain medication, and sleeps on a bed.
U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar planned to visit him in Pearsall on Wednesday, Sept. 23, to press for his release. Describing the facility, Castro said in a statement: "It is nothing more than a prison." More than 100 House Democrats also signed a letter to acting ICE Director David Venturella seeking his release for medical care.
His Immigration Status: What Both Sides Say
Neither side disputes that a final removal order exists. DHS calls him someone who entered illegally under the Biden administration. His lawyer says he arrived in 2024 through a CBP One appointment, applied for asylum and held a work permit, and that an immigration judge ordered him removed only after he missed a hearing whose notice went to an old address, according to the AP.
No Camera on the Officer Who Fired
Sources told CBS News the ICE officer who opened fire had no body camera on. He is a former Border Patrol agent who transferred to ICE last year. Earlier in September, Markwayne Mullin, the Homeland Security secretary, had predicted every ICE officer would carry one before the month ran out.
Two DHS officials told NBC News the officer had been issued a camera, though it is unclear why he lacked it. A colleague in the same vehicle had one on, but its footage misses the moment the shots were fired.
Sept. 30: What the Judge Will Weigh
U.S. District Judge Orlando L. Garcia signed an order Monday directing the Pearsall warden to bring Garcés Pérez into court at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30. The hearing covers a habeas petition plus a bid for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction that would free him and pause removal, KXAN reported. Because he must appear in person in San Antonio, he cannot be deported before that date.
Local prosecutors want him kept in the country, too. The Travis County District Attorney's Office wrote to Mullin and Venturella on Tuesday asking that removal be halted while state and local investigators work, since he could be needed as a witness if charges are filed, ABC News reported.
DHS Is Not Backing Down
Federal officials have shown no sign of retreat. In a post quoted by KXAN, DHS said ICE "will not be slowing down operations in Austin." Mullin also shared video of graffiti on a pillar near the shooting site, including a threat against President Donald Trump, and cast it as evidence of hatred and violence, AFP reported.
Why Students Are Paying Attention
The Pflugerville teens are responding to a broader pattern. A CNN tally found that, before Sunday, federal immigration officers on duty had opened fire on no fewer than 20 people since Trump's return to office, killing eight. Texas alone has now seen three or more such shootings over that period.
Whether the students reappear when Garcés Pérez is due in court next Wednesday may reveal whether Tuesday's walkout was a one-day outburst or the start of a sustained movement.
