The political tragedy confronting Venezuelans in the United States can be measured in two images.
In Austin, Texas, Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan working as a delivery driver, lay wounded after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot him in the torso. After leaving the hospital, he was taken directly into federal immigration custody.
In New York, Delcy Rodríguez arrived for the United Nations General Assembly as Venezuela's interim president, backed by President Donald Trump and preparing for their first face-to-face meeting.
Llegamos a Nueva York con la firmeza y la esperanza de un pueblo que cree en el encuentro y la unión entre las naciones. pic.twitter.com/7o34hGhBHN
— Delcy Rodríguez (@delcyrodriguezv) September 21, 2026
One Venezuelan entered the federal system as a wounded detainee. The other entered New York as a head of state.
That contrast exposes an increasingly uncomfortable reality: Venezuelans in the United States have been politically abandoned by both governments. Washington is courting Rodríguez, signing energy agreements with Caracas and facilitating Venezuela's economic reintegration while simultaneously detaining, deporting and stripping protections from Venezuelans who fled the country.
Rodríguez, meanwhile, is receiving international recognition but has not publicly made the defense of Venezuelans targeted by U.S. immigration authorities part of her new relationship with Trump.
As of publication, no public statement from Rodríguez or her government addressing the shooting of Garcés Pérez could be located.
The Austin shooting occurred shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday during what federal authorities described as a brief foot pursuit. Garcés Pérez was initially hospitalized in serious but stable condition. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, subsequently said he had been discharged into ICE custody.
His wife said he had been making a DoorDash delivery when the encounter occurred. According to his family, he called her from his vehicle while "yelling in pain." The family and its lawyer said they were initially unable to see him or obtain clear information about his condition and location. CBS News reported that his relatives disputed key elements of the government's account.
The Department of Homeland Security says Garcés Pérez entered the country illegally, had a final removal order and remains in federal custody pending deportation. His attorney says he entered the United States legally. Those conflicting claims have not been independently resolved.
Nor has the central question: Why did an ICE officer fire?
🚨🚨Video capta el momento en el ICE efectua los disparos al venezolano.#AHORA Según la información preliminar, un agente del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) hirió de un disparo a Wilber Garcés Pérez, venezolano de 29 años. El hecho ocurrió en el norte de… pic.twitter.com/XiHVdrKH06
— Delmiro De Barrio (@DelmiroDeBarrio) September 21, 2026
Witnesses and some local officials have alleged that Garcés Pérez was shot while moving away from officers. Images circulating on social media purportedly show bullet wounds in his back. Those assertions remain unverified, and federal authorities have not released body-camera footage or a detailed account establishing whether the officer faced an immediate threat.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said he was "very angry" and demanded an investigation involving local police and the Texas Rangers. He argued that an inquiry controlled by ICE alone would not be credible. Homeland Security Investigations, itself part of ICE, is leading the case with FBI assistance. Reuters reported that more than 50 people have died in ICE detention since Trump returned to office.
JUST IN: "I'm very angry about this."
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 20, 2026
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson condemns the shooting of a person by an ICE officer on a city street, saying he is "extremely unhappy" and calling for answers about what happened.
Watson also criticizes ICE's broader enforcement tactics, saying he… pic.twitter.com/DkJlBS7spD
Representative Greg Casar also demanded transparency, warning that federal immigration agencies have provided misleading accounts after previous shootings.
Texas Rep. Greg Casar compares immigration enforcement to "war" and says the only way "for Austin to be safe" is to stop enforcing immigration law altogether. pic.twitter.com/dA2wQ5ckeU
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 20, 2026
There is a recent case behind that distrust.
ICE agent Christian Castro now faces state assault charges and a federal false-statements case arising from the January shooting of another Venezuelan, Julio César Sosa-Celis, during an immigration operation in Minneapolis. Castro fired through an apartment door, striking Sosa-Celis in the leg while children were inside.
Castro initially claimed he had been attacked with a snow shovel and broom. Prosecutors say video evidence contradicted that version. He was eventually arrested after an eight-month legal and political struggle that included Texas Governor Greg Abbott's refusal to facilitate his extradition. DHS suspended Castro, and a federal civil-rights investigation was opened. Reuters described it as the first federal prosecution of an officer arising from Trump's Minneapolis enforcement surge.
That case does not determine what happened in Austin. It does establish why the government's account cannot simply be accepted without independent evidence.
The fear extends far beyond Texas.
In Doral, Florida, the symbolic capital of the Venezuelan diaspora, reports of concentrated ICE activity have emptied restaurants, shopping areas and normally busy streets. Residents describe avoiding work, medical appointments and public spaces because they fear being stopped. Doral is approximately 40% Venezuelan, and its local government's cooperation with ICE has been denounced by community organizers as a betrayal.
Recent arrests in South Florida have included Venezuelans with pending asylum claims, work permits and no criminal records. Among them was Humberto Castro, whose advocates said he had a pending asylum case, valid employment authorization and no criminal history when ICE detained him.
Venezuelan organizations Veppex and Amavex have asked Congress for an investigation, individualized reviews of detainees' cases and an audit of ICE operations. Amavex president Helen Villalonga said the administration's policies have "brutally harmed" the community. A report cited by EL PAÍS found that more than 70% of the approximately 65,765 people in ICE custody nationally in July had no criminal record.
These are not marginal newcomers with no connection to American society.
According to a January 2026 analysis by the Pew Research Center, an estimated 1.2 million people of Venezuelan origin lived in the United States in 2024. That was an increase of 639,000, or 119%, in just five years. Venezuelans are now the country's ninth-largest Hispanic-origin group and accounted for 1.7% of the U.S. Hispanic population.
The community is also distinct from most other Latino populations. Eight in 10 Venezuelans in the United States were born abroad, the highest immigrant share of any Hispanic-origin group. Half of Venezuelan immigrants had arrived within the previous five years, reflecting the extraordinary speed and scale of the exodus produced by Venezuela's political, economic and humanitarian crises.
Their legal vulnerability, however, is not simply the result of unlawful entry.
Pew estimates that more than half of Venezuelan immigrants are now living in the United States without authorization, but many previously possessed legal protections that allowed them to remain and work in the country. Most had Temporary Protected Status, while others entered through the humanitarian parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
The Trump administration terminated Venezuelan TPS protections and canceled that parole program in 2025, pushing many people who had been lawfully present into immigration uncertainty.
The population is heavily concentrated in the same states where aggressive enforcement has generated growing fear. Florida was home to approximately 474,000 Venezuelans in 2024, more than 40% of the national total. Nearly 200,000 lived in Texas, followed by Georgia, New York and Illinois. About 254,000 Venezuelans lived in metropolitan Miami, including communities such as Doral, while another 127,000 lived in the Orlando area. Houston had approximately 83,000 Venezuelan residents.
Pew's findings also undermine efforts to portray Venezuelan migrants as an inherently criminal or economically burdensome population. Nearly half of Venezuelan-origin adults had at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 37% of the overall U.S. population and 21% of other Hispanics. Sixteen percent held graduate degrees, approximately the same proportion as the country overall and more than twice the rate among other Latinos.
They are an unusually recent, highly educated and predominantly immigrant community whose legal position was transformed by federal policy. Many fled a government that could not protect them, obtained permission to build lives in the United States and then watched Washington withdraw those protections. Now, as enforcement intensifies in Doral and an ICE shooting in Austin raises new questions about federal accountability, they are discovering that political recognition for Venezuela does not necessarily mean protection for Venezuelans.
7 facts about Venezuelans in the US | Pew Research Center https://t.co/qE2WwoJ93Z
— Moisés Naím (@MoisesNaim) February 28, 2026
The population has expanded substantially since Pew's 2021 snapshot. The Migration Policy Institute now estimates that nearly one million Venezuelans live in the United States. It warns that mass returns remain unsustainable because Venezuela's economy, public services and democratic institutions have not recovered sufficiently to absorb them. The institute identifies a contradiction between Washington's effort to stabilize Venezuela and an enforcement policy designed to accelerate deportations. It recommends restoring regularization and integration mechanisms, including protection comparable to the Temporary Protected Status the Trump administration canceled in 2025. Migration Policy Institute
Yet Rodríguez's arrival in New York demonstrates what Washington has chosen to prioritize.
Trump is scheduled to meet Venezuela's interim president Tuesday at a reception during the General Assembly. It will be their first in-person meeting since the U.S. operation that removed Nicolás Maduro in January. The Trump administration has thrown its support behind Rodríguez, reached an energy agreement giving the United States a major role in Venezuelan oil and moved toward normalizing the government she leads. Reuters described the meeting as another sign of Trump's growing support for her.
That diplomatic opening may eventually benefit Venezuela. Economic recovery, institutional stability and an orderly democratic transition are legitimate objectives. But oil agreements and presidential meetings cannot substitute for the protection of people.
The Trump administration cannot credibly claim to be rescuing Venezuela while treating Venezuelans inside the United States primarily as deportation targets. Rodríguez cannot claim to represent the Venezuelan nation while remaining silent when one of its citizens is shot during an immigration operation and communities in Doral are afraid to leave their homes.
The Venezuelans caught between them are still waiting for someone to speak in their name.
