Smith calls for a full investigation and answers from ICE
Adam SmithMember of the United States Congress
Rep. Adam Smith called for a full investigation and answers, saying ICE was targeting people violently without transparency or accountability.
“ICE continues to violently target individuals in this country, without any transparency or accountability. We need a full investigation into the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez and answers before this rogue police force continues to target more people in our country's streets.”
Original post
Where this statement fits
Should DHS lead the investigation of the ICE shooting of a delivery driver in Austin?
On September 20, 2026, according to Austin officials, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan DoorDash driver, in North Austin, Texas. DHS said Homeland Security Investigations, with FBI assistance, would lead the investigation and described him as an “illegal alien” with a final order of removal who is in federal custody pending removal. His attorney disputes that he entered illegally and says he has a valid work permit. Austin's mayor, Democratic members of Congress and the League of United Latin American Citizens question DHS's and ICE's credibility and have called for an independent investigation. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, repeated DHS's description of the man. On September 29, federal prosecutors charged him with assaulting and resisting a federal officer, and the U.S. Attorney's Office said ICE's Homeland Security Investigations is investigating that case.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
In a direct post, Rep. Adam Smith called for a full investigation and characterized ICE as violently targeting people without transparency or accountability. This is Smith’s assessment; the post does not independently establish the broader characterization.
Before the quotation
The statement followed the September 20 Austin shooting, DHS’s announcement that Homeland Security Investigations would lead the inquiry, and public calls for an investigation outside DHS or ICE.
After the quotation
The post calls for an independent or full investigation but does not itself resolve the disputed facts about the shooting or specify the full investigative structure.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
On whether DHS should lead its own investigation, Smith rejects that arrangement: he says ICE acts "without any transparency or accountability", calls it a "rogue police force", and demands "a full investigation into the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez and answers" — an explicit call for outside scrutiny rather than a DHS-led inquiry.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
More from this case
Read the full caseAustin Council Member Vanessa Fuentes says local law enforcement should join the ICE shooting investigation
“ICE cannot investigate itself, and so it’s important that we have our local law enforcement agency involved in that investigation”Read statement
Travis County DA Garza says the federal government has not shared evidence with Austin police on the ICE shooting
“So far, the information has been flowing from the Austin Police Department to federal law enforcement officials, and as we sit here today, three days away from this shooting, it is incredibly important that the information start to flow both ways To my knowledge, at this point, the federal government has not shared any evidence with the Austin Police Department, and importantly, has not responded to a request from the Austin Police Department to be able to participate in or be allowed to interview the ICE agent who discharged his weapon here in Travis County this past Sunday”Read statement
Castro calls for an independent investigation of the Austin ICE shooting
“There must be an independent investigation, and the ICE officers who shot Wilber in the back should be held accountable.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Smith calls for a full investigation and answers from ICE
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/1438-rep-adam-smith-called-for-a-full-investigation
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Smith calls for a full investigation and answers from ICE". First published: 2026-09-22. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1438-rep-adam-smith-called-for-a-full-investigation