By David Thomas
Feb 21 (Reuters) – A federal immigration agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Texas in March 2025, months earlier than the Trump administration started its deportation surge in Minnesota that led to the capturing deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in line with information launched this week.
Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was killed by brokers with the Division of Homeland Safety, attorneys for Martinez’s household mentioned in a press release.
A DHS agent fired a number of rounds at Martinez, who allegedly hit one other DHS agent along with his automobile 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 information obtained by American Oversight, a nonprofit watchdog group. The brokers have been conducting immigration enforcement, the information present.
Martinez’s capturing seems to be the primary recognized occasion of a U.S. citizen being killed throughout U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. Federal brokers conducting immigration enforcement shot not less than 5 individuals in January alone, together with Pretti and Good.
FAMILY LAWYERS CALL FOR INVESTIGATION
Martinez was attempting to adjust to directions from native legislation enforcement when he was shot, Charles Stam and Alex Stamm, attorneys for Martinez’s household, mentioned in a press release. 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 mentioned.
The mounting demise 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 companies by way of September 2029, a historic sum.
Martinez, who was recognized as a U.S. citizen within the redacted information, was taken to a hospital in close by Brownsville, Texas, the place he was later pronounced useless. The agent who was hit with a automobile went to the hospital for a knee harm and was later launched, in line with 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 p.c in use-of-force incidents — with individuals hospitalized, bystanders swept up in operations, and even the demise of a U.S. citizen.”
A DHS spokesperson mentioned in a press release that Martinez “deliberately ran over” an agent with DHS’ Homeland Safety Investigations and one other agent “fired defensive pictures.”
The almost year-old incident is underneath investigation by the Texas Division of Public Security Ranger Division, a DHS spokesperson mentioned. A spokesperson with Texas DPS didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
