09/28/2026
It’s been one week since Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez was shot by an ICE agent here in Austin. It was the first weekend of Hispanic Heritage Month. To celebrate, I had a Buenas Lotería Club event at Central Machine Works and Café con Rock 🎸 , raising funds for DACA recipients. I got to open for Brownout and went to Salsa & Sazón ATX with Carlos Roberto . It was a beautiful weekend with so much Latin joy. Then I came home Sunday night and saw what happened to Wilber.
While he was working DoorDash, Wilber was shot in the back on the road I drive every day to work. He was taken to the hospital and then transferred into ICE custody while still seriously injured. His attorney Abogada Kate | Oficina de Inmigración Virtual says he still has a bullet lodged in his body and that he has experienced pain and loss of feeling on his left side. He was later taken back to the hospital after his condition worsened.
After what happened to the Salgado family in Houston, seeing another immigrant shot by ICE so soon has been devastating. I’m angry at how normalized the violence has become. To be 1000% honest with y’all, I’ve had a really hard time emotionally processing all of this.
Now more than ever, ESPECIALLY if you’re hosting hispanic heritage month events, you have to speak up. You have to pay attention and make sure people know what is happening here in Austin.
IMMIGRANTS BELONG HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will never get tired of saying this.
THE PROCEEDS FROM OUR NEXT EVENT WILL SUPPORT ICE OUT OF TEXAS INITIATIVES BY Austin Sanctuary Network PYM Central TX Austin SDS FIEL Houston PODER and Party for Socialism & Liberation Austin, TX
Injustices like these should not become normalized. ICE shouldn’t just be abolished — it should be PUNISHED and PROSECUTED for their wrongdoings. I pray for Wilber, his family, and thank everyone who has been helping with the case and demanding answers.
I’ve added some resources at the link in our bio if you want to support Wilber, register to vote, or learn more about what’s happening.
And to everyone who has checked in on me this week, thank you. If this has been heavy for you too, check in on your people and take care of yourself.
