US citizen shot and killed by federal immigration agent in March 2025, records show
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A US Border Patrol officer stands behind tape during demonstrators' standoff with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and federal officers in Chicago, Illinois, on Oct 4, 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
A federal immigration agent shot and killed a US 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
Mr Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was killed by agents with the Department of Homeland Security, attorneys for Mr Martinez's family said in a statement.
A DHS agent fired multiple rounds at Mr 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.
Mr Martinez's shooting appears to be the first known instance of a US citizen being killed during US President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration. Federal agents conducting immigration enforcement shot at least five people in January alone, including Mr Pretti and Ms Good.
Family lawyers call for investigation
Mr Martinez was trying to comply with instructions from local law enforcement when he was shot, Mr Charles Stam and Mr Alex Stamm, attorneys for Mr 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," Mr Stam and Mr Stamm said.
The mounting death toll in Mr Trump’s intensifying immigration push has increased scrutiny on the crackdown, driving a backlash among lawmakers and the public.
The Trump administration is dramatically ramping up immigration enforcement with US$170 billion (S$216 billion) budgeted for immigration agencies through September 2029, a historic sum.
Mr Martinez, who was identified as a US 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," Ms 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 per cent in use-of-force incidents — with people hospitalised, bystanders swept up in operations, and even the death of a US citizen."
A DHS spokesperson said in a statement that Mr 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 Ranger Division, a DHS spokesperson said. A spokesperson with Texas DPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. REUTERS
