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

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.