I.C.E. Terror in Austin, Texas

Demanding Justice is not Enough

On September 20th, Terrorism struck the city of Austin, Texas: Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was shot in the back by an ICE agent.¹ Bleeding from a bullet hole in his back, Mr. Perez was dragged from his car, handcuffed and then taken to the hospital. ICE grabbed him from the hospital, put him in South Texas ICE Processing Center, where he had to sleep on the floor – all with a bullet still lodged in his back.¹ Wilber Rafael Garces Perez’s crime: trying to make a living by delivering food for DoorDash.

Austin, TX – Demonstrations erupt after ICE shooting

On the same day, ICE agents brutally beat a man in Evanston, Illinois, leaving him lying in the street with injuries to his head, neck, and teeth.² The beating was a case of mistaken identity, as the man was an American citizen.

These brutal attacks are part of the fascism that is growing in our country. Every day we see the destruction of Capitalist Democracy and the growth of fascism. ICE violence and terror directed at immigrant workers and the people who support and defend them is part of the plan to install a fascist regime in Washington, DC.

ICE is an American Gestapo.³ A National Police Force whose mission is to protect the government from organized political opposition and individual resistance.

ICE can send people directly to concentration camps, called Detention Centers, and the courts can do little to stop them or to get kidnapped people out of the centers.

Demanding justice is not enough. Texas Congressperson Greg Casar reacted to the ICE shooting in Austin, saying that “(O)ver and over, ICE has shot people and then lied about what happened. We can see the lies with our own eyes. We will demand truth, transparency and accountability.”⁴

But Congressperson Caser, ICE is not subject to legal or administrative oversight – it is above the law. Local authorities and the FBI are forbidden from investigating ICE shootings and beatings.³

ICE cannot be reined in or reformed – it must be destroyed.

The only sure path to justice is through the power of the working class organized by its own political party.

We know that we can do this. We have learned an important lesson in the national battles against ICE – neighbors defend neighbors; we can only depend on ourselves!

We have the ability to change the world. We can do this; we must do this!

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