Texas capturing seems to be the primary recognized occasion of a US citizen being killed throughout Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Revealed On 22 Feb 2026
A federal immigration agent shot useless a citizen of america in March 2025, months earlier than the Trump administration started its deportation surge in Minnesota that led to the capturing deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
In line with information launched this week, Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was killed by the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) brokers, legal professionals for his household mentioned in a press release.
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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 visitors management following an accident on March 15, 2025, in response to the information obtained by American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group.
The information are a part of a tranche of closely redacted inside paperwork from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that the nonprofit obtained as a part of a Freedom of Info Act lawsuit.
The brokers have been conducting immigration enforcement, information present.
Martinez, who labored at an Amazon warehouse, had by no means had any prior run-ins with legislation enforcement, his mom, Rachel Reyes, mentioned. “He was a typical younger man,” she advised The Related Press information company. “And he wasn’t a violent individual in any respect.”
Martinez, who was recognized as a US citizen within the redacted information, was taken to hospital in close by Brownsville, Texas, the place he was later pronounced useless. The agent who was hit by a automotive went to the hospital for a knee harm and was later launched, in response to the report.
“These information paint a deeply troubling image of the violent strategies utilized by ICE,” Chioma Chukwu, the chief director of American Oversight, mentioned in a press release.
“In simply the primary months of this administration, ICE’s personal knowledge reveals a dramatic spike of almost 400 per cent in use-of-force incidents – with individuals hospitalised, bystanders swept up in operations, and even the loss of life of a US citizen.”
A DHS spokesperson mentioned in a press release that Martinez “deliberately ran over” an agent with DHS’s Homeland Safety Investigations, and one other agent “fired defensive photographs”. The almost year-old incident is below investigation by the Texas Division of Public Security’s Ranger Division, a DHS spokesperson mentioned.
Name for investigation
Martinez’s capturing seems to be the primary recognized occasion of a US citizen being killed throughout US President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown. Federal brokers within the operation shot at the least 5 individuals in January alone, together with Pretti and Nicole Good in Minnesota.
Martinez was making an attempt to adjust to directions from native legislation enforcement when he was shot, Charles Stam and Alex Stamm, legal professionals for his household, mentioned in a press release. They known as for a “full and truthful investigation”.
“Ruben’s household has been pursuing transparency and accountability for almost a yr now and can proceed to achieve this for so long as it takes,” the legal professionals mentioned.
The mounting loss of life toll has elevated scrutiny of Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown, driving a backlash amongst lawmakers and the general public. The Trump administration is dramatically ramping up immigration enforcement, with $170bn budgeted for immigration companies by September 2029, a historic sum.
