Texas ICE shooting leaves Venezuelan DoorDash driver with bullet in his back, says lawyer

A Venezuelan DoorDash delivery driver who was shot by ICE agents returned to hospital after being sent to a detention centre with a bullet still in his back, his lawyer has said.

The shooting of Wilber Rafael Garcés Perez, 28, triggered protests in Austin, Texas, on Sunday.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement to the BBC it was investigating the shooting of a man in the Texan capital who had entered the country illegally.

It was unclear what led to the shooting with the local mayor and police demanding an investigation. It comes months after a man in Houston was shot dead by an ICE officer.

Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch told the BBC that after being unable to move his arm in the detention facility, Garcés Perez was transported back to hospital on Monday evening. He was treated there and has since been returned to the detention facility.

"He reports that during the transfer he was handcuffed, shackled at the ankles, placed in a waist chain, and handled roughly despite his gunshot injury," Lincoln-Goldfinch said.

She added that detention personnel have revoked his communication privileges and have since moved him from an infirmary into an isolated room with a flat, non-adjustable bed.

The BBC has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

The gunshot fractured Garcés Perez's clavicle and he still has "significant swelling and pain", and wears a sling, his lawyer also said. The cause or extent of the loss of movement he experienced has not yet been determined, she added.

Texas lawmaker Joaquin Castro, a Democrat, on Tuesday has demanded his release from detention.

He said Garcés Perez was in the US legally, had work permits and was seeking asylum.

Garcés Perez ' s federal case remains pending and a hearing is scheduled for next week, his lawyer said.

The Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement efforts and arrests during Trump's second term, sparking unrest across several US cities.

The administration has defended its policies and the agency's controversial tactics as necessary for public safety and to enact Trump's campaign promise to secure the border and carry out mass deportations.