By David Thomas
Feb 21 (Reuters) - A federal immigration agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Texas in March 2025, months before the Trump administration began its deportation surge in Minnesota that led to the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, according to records released this week.
Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was killed by agents with the Department of Homeland Security, attorneys for Martinez's family said in a statement.
A DHS agent fired multiple rounds at Martinez, who allegedly hit another DHS agent with his car as the agents assisted local police in South Padre Island, Texas, with traffic control following an accident on March 15, 2025, according to records obtained by American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group. The agents were conducting immigration enforcement, the records show.
Martinez's shooting appears to be the first known instance of a U.S. citizen being killed during U.S. President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Federal agents conducting immigration enforcement shot at least five people in January alone, including Pretti and Good.
FAMILY'S LAWYERS CALL FOR INVESTIGATION
Martinez was trying to comply with instructions from local law enforcement when he was shot, Charles Stam and Alex Stamm, attorneys for Martinez's family, said in a statement. They called for a "full and fair investigation."
"Ruben's family has been pursuing transparency and accountability for nearly a year now and will continue to do so for as long as it takes," the two attorneys said.
The mounting death toll has increased scrutiny of Trump's immigration crackdown, driving a backlash among lawmakers and the public.
The Trump administration is dramatically ramping up immigration enforcement, with $170 billion budgeted for immigration agencies through September 2029, a historic sum.
Martinez, who was identified as a U.S. citizen in the redacted records, was taken to a hospital in nearby Brownsville, Texas, where he was later pronounced dead. The agent who was hit with a car went to the hospital for a knee injury and was later released, according to the report.
"These records paint a deeply troubling picture of the violent methods used by ICE," Chioma Chukwu, the executive director of American Oversight, said in a statement. "In just the first months of this administration, ICE's own data shows a dramatic spike of nearly 400% in use-of-force incidents - with people hospitalized, bystanders swept up in operations, and even the death of a U.S. citizen."
A DHS spokesperson said in a statement that Martinez "intentionally ran over" an agent with DHS' Homeland Security Investigations and another agent "fired defensive shots."
The nearly year-old incident is under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety's Ranger Division, a DHS spokesperson said. A spokesperson with the Texas DPS said the case is still an active investigation by the Texas Rangers, declining to comment further.
(Reporting by David Thomas; Editing by Rod Nickel and Paul Simao)
