We are saddened and horrified by the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez in North Austin by ICE officers. Wilber was denied proper medical care, held in isolation, and forced to sleep on the floor and a non-medical bed at the for-profit Pearsall Detention Center, about 130 miles southwest of Austin away from his wife, Elizdar, his loved ones, and community support. On Sunday, a federal judge ordered an emergency stay to halt his deportation because of concerns about his medical status, where he was transferred to a hospital, only given ibuprofen, and returned to Pearsall. The bullet is still lodged near the back of his neck.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is an agency built to kill, brutalize, dehumanize, separate, detain, deport, and terrorize people. It must be abolished!
You can help immediately by sending donations to:
For an overview of why ICE must be abolished and what you can do see:
What you need to know about the call to abolish ICE (AFSC)
The citizens of Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New York and other cities have put up significant resistance to ICE’s invasions of their communities and we in Austin can too. For action opportunities in Austin:
- Get involved with Indivisible Austin
- Support Austin Santuary Network
- Stay tuned to this site for other opportunities for action.
The image accompanying this article is from a painting by Melanie Hickerson, one of Austin’s great artists and our neighbor. Melanie would like for this powerful statement to be displayed widely. Feel free to reuse for non-commercial purposes but be sure to give credit to the artist.