A federal immigration agent shot and killed a US citizen in Texas in March 2025, months earlier than the Trump administration started its deportation surge in Minnesota that led to the taking pictures deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in line with data launched this week.
Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was killed by brokers with the Division of Homeland Safety, attorneys for Martinez’s household stated in an announcement.
A DHS agent fired a number of rounds at Martinez, who allegedly hit one other DHS agent together with his automotive because the brokers assisted native police in South Padre Island, Texas, with site visitors management following an accident on March 15, 2025, in line with data obtained by American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group.
The brokers have been conducting immigration enforcement, the data present.
Martinez’s taking pictures seems to be the primary identified occasion of a US citizen being killed throughout US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
Federal brokers conducting immigration enforcement shot not less than 5 folks in January alone, together with Pretti and Good.
Household attorneys name for investigation
Martinez was attempting to adjust to directions from native regulation enforcement when he was shot, Charles Stam and Alex Stamm, attorneys for Martinez’s household, stated in an announcement. They known as for a “full and honest investigation.”
“Ruben’s household has been pursuing transparency and accountability for almost a yr now and can proceed to take action for so long as it takes,” Stam and Stamm stated.
The mounting dying toll in Trump’s intensifying immigration push has elevated scrutiny on the crackdown, driving a backlash amongst lawmakers and the general public.
The Trump administration is dramatically ramping up immigration enforcement with $170 billion budgeted for immigration businesses via September 2029, a historic sum.
Martinez, who was recognized as a US citizen within the redacted data, was taken to a hospital in close by Brownsville, Texas, the place he was later pronounced useless.
The agent who was hit with a automotive went to the hospital for a knee harm and was later launched, in line with the report.
“These data paint a deeply troubling image of the violent strategies utilized by ICE,” Chioma Chukwu, the chief director of American Oversight, stated in an announcement.
“In simply the primary months of this administration, ICE’s personal information exhibits a dramatic spike of almost 400 % in use-of-force incidents — with folks hospitalized, bystanders swept up in operations, and even the dying of a U.S. citizen.”
A DHS spokesperson stated in an announcement that Martinez “deliberately ran over” an agent with DHS’ Homeland Safety Investigations and one other agent “fired defensive photographs.”
The almost year-old incident is underneath investigation by the Texas Division of Public Security Ranger Division, a DHS spokesperson stated. A spokesperson with Texas DPS didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
