Austin on ICE

An ICE agent shot a DoorDash delivery man in North Austin yesterday. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was transported to the hospital in serious but stable condition and is being represented by Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, a longtime local immigration attorney.

In an Instagram post, Lincoln-Goldfinch said that Garces Perez was shot "behind his neck" while APD Chief Lisa Davis has said he was shot in the torso.

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Lincoln-Goldfinch said he is a legal resident with a valid work permit.

"ICE has reportedly said there was a chase and that Wilber has a final order of removal," she wrote on Instagram. "I cannot independently confirm either claim because I have not been able to speak with my client."

"But even if he does have a final removal order, that does not answer the most important question: What happened during this shooting?"

(I interviewed Lincoln-Goldfinch over a decade ago for a story on immigrant detention centers during the Obama era)

I don't have anything to add about the actual shooting or Trump's stupid and cruel efforts to rid America of many of its most productive residents. But the tragedy offers a chance for local government and local law enforcement to build trust in the community, notably by differentiating itself from the thugs in charge at the federal and state level.

Local elected officials have offered varying levels of condemnation. Mayor Kirk Watson said that while he was "angry and disappointed," he's "not surprised" given the "rogue nature of ICE."

That's a relatively strong statement from Watson, who has gone to great lengths during his tenure to avoid confrontations with the Trump administration, state GOP leadership or law enforcement.

A joint statement from Council members Vanessa Fuentes, Chito Vela and Jose Velasquez was even more forceful, demanding that ICE leave the city and expressing zero confidence in federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the shooting:

Even Marc Duchen, the conservative Democrat who counts a lot of Republicans as supporters in West Austin, expressed concerns.

"I'm an immigrant myself, and the tactics we've seen deployed across the nation by ICE and other federal agencies is appalling," said Duchen, who moved to the U.S. from South Africa as a kid. "They are charged with enforcing the law, not breaking it, and ICE has a clear obligation to cooperate with the Austin Police Department and other officials as the investigation moves forward."

At a news conference yesterday, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said that APD's Special Investigation unit, the same unit that investigates APD's own officer-involved shootings, "is on the scene," and that she has spoken with the Texas Rangers, who will also participate in the investigation.

"This has happened in the city of Austin, the city of Austin deserves answers on what occurred, the mayor is demanding some answers, the city manager wants answers, and we're going to get all of those questions answered and we're going to be as transparent as we can be," she said.

Again, for police officers who often feel that their profession is unfairly maligned by people who don't understand it, wouldn't they agree that the behavior of federal immigration agents around the country has been contrary to the tenets of good policing? Doesn't the indiscriminate targeting of immigrants undermine the trust that cops depend on to effectively operate in heavily immigrant communities? These seem like relatively obvious things for local law enforcement officials and law enforcement associations to acknowledge, but they won't because they have become so hopelessly wedded to far right authoritarianism.

So you won't hear anything from the Austin Police Association. Or the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas. Or the Central Texas Public Safety Commission.

It's really too bad.

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