Garcés received a gunshot wound to the upper back from an ICE member on Sunday, in a new incident that puts the spotlight on immigration operations promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The 28-year-old Venezuelan remains in federal custody. His mother, Flor Pérez, reported that the bullet lodged near his spine has caused immobility on the left side of his body, and she fears it may move toward an organ.

"He is quite injured and in a lot of pain," Pérez told AFP from Lara state (central Venezuela).

She explained that after being taken twice to a hospital, he was returned to the detention center and that so far he has only received painkillers from the nurses there. She maintained that he requires a clinical bed, since the conditions in which he finds himself are not optimal for his medical situation.

On Wednesday, during a press conference from the detention center, Garcés stated that the shot "fractured his collarbone and at the hospital they took me to they couldn't remove the bullet" because it was close to reaching his spine.

Hours later, his lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, reported that Garcés was again "transferred to another hospital because he now suffers paralysis on his left side."

Flor Pérez lives with the Venezuelan migrant's son, a minor who has suffered from a motor disability (cerebral palsy) since birth. The child depends economically on the remittances that Garcés sends from Texas for his medicines and treatments.

She also demands an investigation and sanctions against the official who fired the shot. She described the police procedure as a flagrant violation of human rights.

"He called me on a video call and I saw him at the moment when he was parked in his car sitting down, and he tells me a car was coming and it hit him," and "then he says 'Mom, they shot me, they shot me,'" Pérez recounted.

Other relatives in Venezuela denounced the opacity of the ICE procedure. His aunt Gladys Pérez expressed the family's "absolute rejection" of the excessive use of force.

"The truth is there was no reason to shoot Wilber; they say he fled. However, that doesn't seem like a reason to me. He is not a criminal. He should not be treated as one," said the teacher from Yaracuy state (north-central Venezuela).

Gladys Pérez denounced that the U.S. agency maintains an information blockade, since so far they do not know the legal status under which he is being held.

Wilber Garcés had been outside Venezuela for more than five years and legally entered the United States from Mexico almost three years ago under the humanitarian parole program, with an asylum application in progress, according to his relatives.

"He did not leave through illegal routes," emphasized Angelsis Vásquez. She added that the young man had permits to work as a delivery driver for the DoorDash platform.

For her part, María Flor Sequera, grandmother of the Venezuelan migrant, expressed her pain over what happened and maintains hope that "all of this ends well," longing for her grandson's prompt recovery and for his situation to be clarified.