ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Texas as locals demand answers

Protesters have gathered in Austin, Texas where local officials said a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and wounded a man in the Texas capital.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national, was shot in the torso and taken to hospital, his lawyer has told US media.

Local officials are seeking answers from federal authorities, and could not say whether he was a target of ICE. The mayor and police have demanded an independent probe, with this shooting coming months after a man in Houston, Texas was shot dead by an ICE officer.

The BBC has contacted ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

What is ICE and what powers do its agents have to use force?

Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch told CBS that Garces Perez called his wife while "yelling in pain" in hospital. She told National Public Radio he was in ICE custody.

The shooting on Sunday in Austin occurred just before 1300 local time, although details remain scarce. Dozens of protesters, some waving the flags of Mexico and Guatemala, have since gathered at the scene carrying signs demanding that ICE leave Austin.

Local television outlets showed the demonstrators gathering across the street from ​a blue Toyota Corolla that ⁠sustained damage to the passenger-side door, as ICE agents stood nearby, Reuters news agency reported.

Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, said that Austinites have a right to know what happened and "a right to feel safe in their city" during a media briefing on Sunday.

"They should know the truth" he said, adding that he is pleased that the city will also be involved in the investigation.

He added that ICE operations have surged in Austin in recent weeks. ICE has faced intense scrutiny after a number of deadly shootings, including the death of Houston resident Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. Salgado Araujo had not been a target of an ICE investigation, but was shot during an ICE traffic stop, according to DHS .

Texas Congressman Greg Casar, a Democrat, has demanded a full and immediate independent investigation and the release of body camera footage. He also demanded "accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law".

The Austin Police Department confirmed to a local CBS News affiliate that the victim was injured and was transported to hospital. No Austin police officer was involved in the shooting.

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

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

But rights activists say that the administration has violated free speech and due process rights and Democrats have demanded reforms at the agency, including requiring immigration enforcement agents to wear body cameras and barring them from concealing their faces during operations.

Earlier this month the US Department of Justice charged an ICE agent with lying about the non-fatal shooting of a Venezuelan migrant in Minnesota - a rare instance in which the current justice department accused a federal agent of breaking the law on the job.

Earlier this week, Florida lawmaker Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican who has been spoken out against the immigration crackdown, released an advert critcising the targeting and detaining of individuals who have no criminal record.

Salazar appeared on the CBS programme Face the Nation on Sunday and said that she has since spoken to the president, and believes he will keep the country on the right track.

"He gets it more than anybody," she said.

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