A bullet in his back, no officer body-camera footage

A federal judge has temporarily stopped ICE from deporting Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, the DoorDash driver shot by an officer in Austin, Texas. Garcés Pérez, 28, is due in court next week. BBC

He was released from an Austin hospital about four hours after the shooting and taken to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas, with the bullet still lodged in his back. His lawyer and supporters dispute the care he has received; DHS says he is receiving around-the-clock medical care, including pain medication. The Texas Tribune

The officer who fired had been issued a body camera but was not wearing it, NBC News reports. Austin police footage does not show the shooting. NBC News

In Miramar, Florida, a field office built for 56 held up to 342

Whistleblower photographs and allegations have put new pressure on ICE over conditions at its Miramar, Florida, field office. They describe crowded cells, people sleeping in the office’s garage entrance, overflowing portable toilets, and limited access to care, food, hygiene, and lawyers. The site is rated for 56 people; the disclosures described a high of 342 in August. Reps. Robert Garcia, Bennie Thompson, and Maxwell Frost have asked ICE and the DHS inspector general to investigate. Reason

The contractor behind ICE’s warehouse buys wins a $655 million contract

Project Salt Box reports that SK2 Rudiarius LLC received a construction award for work through 2031 at seven ICE-linked sites. They include Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; Broadview, Illinois; Guantánamo Bay, Cuba; Huntsville, Texas; Oakdale, Louisiana; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and Honolulu. The award does not say precisely what will be built or itself obligate funds. Bid documents identify 26-cell housing units at Aguadilla and St. Thomas; the wider program also contemplates clinics, classrooms, training buildings, warehouses, and firing ranges. Project Salt Box

The joint venture’s links to ICE’s earlier detention expansion include SK2’s role as the government’s agent in DHS’s purchase of two CoreCivic prisons this summer, according to the company’s SEC filing. CoreCivic

A refugee program centered on Afrikaners

The administration proposed admitting up to 17,500 refugees in the next fiscal year, primarily white Afrikaners from South Africa. The notice to Congress projected about $500 million in resettlement costs. It follows the administration’s claim that Afrikaners face race-based persecution in South Africa, while most refugee admissions have otherwise remained shut down. Reuters

South Africa rejects that premise. Its government says white South Africans are not a persecuted minority and rejects the portrayal of the country’s land-reform policy as arbitrary confiscation; it says the Constitution protects property rights and equal treatment. The dispute is therefore not just over the number of people admitted, but over whether the United States is treating a politically contested account of discrimination as a basis for refugee protection. Associated Press

Around the system

• Oregon’s warrantless-arrest hearing: A federal judge is weighing claims that ICE violated his preliminary order restricting warrantless arrests. During the hearing, an ICE officer acknowledged that an arrest report contained information that was not true; the Justice Department said it was a mistake, not an intentional falsehood. OPB

• Held five days after the ICE-detainer clock ran out: Maudin Gonzales was released after officials acknowledged that he remained in the Washington County Jail in Iowa five days beyond the 48-hour ICE-detainer window. The sheriff’s office attributed the failure to missed court records and notification problems. KCRG

• Tennessee trooper collaboration: The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition asked a federal judge to stop the Tennessee Highway Patrol from partnering with ICE while its lawsuit over Nashville traffic stops proceeds. The state says the operation at issue is over and that the patrol does not plan a repeat; the judge took the injunction request under advisement. NewsChannel 5 Nashville

• Seattle and King County challenge public-charge rule: Seattle and King County joined New York in litigation against the administration’s new public-charge rule, arguing that it threatens immigrant families’ access to services and could penalize lawful use of public benefits in immigration decisions. King County Executive

• Head Start eligibility directive struck down: A federal judge permanently blocked a July 2025 directive that would have barred some immigrants — including some people with TPS, DACA recipients, and visa holders — from Head Start, community health clinics, and adult education. The court found the rule procedurally invalid; an earlier order had already kept it from taking effect. Associated Press

• San Francisco staffer detained: Ho-Yin Mo, an aide to California Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, was arrested in an immigration operation at the Las Vegas airport and faces possible deportation to Hong Kong. Stefani called for his release. The San Francisco Standard